Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced the end of his state of emergency declaration for the novel coronavirus pandemic, with just 851 deaths reported and without ever implementing a lockdown. Abe cautioned that lifting the order did not mean that the novel virus was gone from Japan. Our battle against the virus will continue," he said. As of Monday, the East Asian nation had reported 16,628 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Of those infected, 13,612 have already recovered and 851 have died. Tokyo, the nation's capital with 14 million residents, was the hardest-hit part of the country, with more than 5,100 cases. On Monday, the city reported just eight new infections. While Japan never implemented stringent lockdowns like those in parts of China, many European countries and the U.S., it barred foreigner travelers who had recently visited many hard-hit countries and urged residents to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Restaurants and shops were also required to close earlier than normal. Karaoke bars, live music venues and gyms were shuttered and will remain closed in the coming weeks. Public health officials in Japan have warned the population to wear masks in public and continue to work from home if possible. Abe has faced criticism for taking little action to curb the virus' spread as many other nations implemented stringent lockdowns. "Just by looking at death numbers, you can say Japan was successful," Mikihito Tanaka, a professor at Waseda University ... told Bloomberg.