Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan starting Friday as Japan widens COVID-19 restrictions.

The extra measure is due to the omicron variant causing cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas.

The restraint, which is something of a pre-state of emergency, is the first since September and is scheduled to last through Feb. 13.

With Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi under similar measures since early January, the state of restraint now covers 16 areas, or one-third, of the country.

While about 80% of Japanese have received their first two vaccine doses, the rollout of booster shots has been slow and has reached only 1.4 % of the population so far.

Throughout the pandemic, Japan has resisted the use of virus lockdowns and has focused on requiring eateries to close early and not serve alcohol. Officials urge the public to wear masks and practice social distancing, as the government seeks to minimize damage to the economy.

Under the latest measure, most eateries are asked to close between 8 and 9 p.m., while large events can allow full capacity if they compile anti-virus plans.

Critics say Japan's measures, which almost exclusively target bars and restaurants, make little sense and are unfair.

After more than two years of repeated restraints and social distancing requests, local residents are increasingly becoming less cooperative to such measures. People are back to commuting on packed trains and shopping at crowded stores.

Tokyo logged 8,638 new cases of coronavirus infection Thursday, exceeding the previous record of 7,377 set just the day before.