That said, affected by the resurgence of COVID-19 since last autumn, downward pressure on the face-to-face services sector intensified after the turn of this year, and the real GDP growth rate for the January-March quarter was negative.
Since April, the state of emergency has been in effect and priority measures to prevent the spread of disease have been implemented in some regions, against the background of COVID-19 spreading along with an increase in variant cases. Downward pressure has continued to be exerted through these factors on economic activity, mainly in the face-to-face services sector.