Japan today extended its COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo and eight prefectures for another 3 weeks, hoping to get virus levels down to a manageable level ahead of the Olympics in late July.In other global developments, UK officials said cases involving the B1617.2 SARS-CoV-2 variant continue to rise and now make up about three fourths of cases.Japan hopes to hasten case declineFollowing the announcement today, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said cases have been declining since the middle of May, but the situation is still unpredictable, with worries about the more transmissible B1617 variant becoming dominant, according to Kyodo News.Japan is experiencing its fourth surge, and the drop in cases has been slow in Tokyo and