Japan's Abe extends state of emergency to May 31

FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wears a protective mask after a news conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan April 17, 2020. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday extended a nationwide state of emergency to May 31, saying the new coronavirus infection rate had yet to drop enough to justify ending measures aimed at slowing the outbreak.

In a nod to the risk those restrictions pose to the world's third-largest economy, however, Abe promised to end restrictions earlier if experts advised him he could do so at a coronavirus task force due to meet on May 14.