The Japanese government is considering an expansion of its state of emergency declared earlier this week amid the coronavirus outbreak to include other areas of the country as some prefectures also seek to be covered by the emergency measures, a government official said Thursday.

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency on Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures, some prefectures with large urban areas were not on the list.

The official said the government will decide what to do by assessing the situation in some areas and listening to the opinions of experts.

Following the declaration, the central Japan prefecture of Aichi has asked the central government to be included in the state of emergency, Gov. Hideaki Omura said Thursday.

Home to a number of major Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corp., the prefecture will declare its own state of emergency on Friday afternoon and request people to refrain from making nonessential outings following a rise in infections with the pneumonia-causing virus, the governor said.