TOKYO -- Japan plans to extend the state of emergency in cities including Tokyo until Sept. 12 and expand the declaration to seven additional prefectures.

The current deadline for the state of emergency for Tokyo and five other prefectures is set for Aug. 31. A decision to extend the emergency will be made following a meeting of an expert advisory committee on Tuesday.

The seven prefectures to be put under the tighter measures from Aug. 20 are Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka.

Serving alcohol in restaurants and bars would be banned under the state of emergency. The seven prefectures had already introduced pre-emergency measures, including restrictions on serving alcohol, but restaurants could serve alcohol until 7 p.m. if infections were trending downward.

"Infections continue to spread nationally on the largest scale ever," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Monday. "A decision was made to consider the declaration and pre-emergency measures at the committee meeting," he said after meeting with the health minister, Norihisa Tamura, and others.

The government has called for the public to avoid going out, traveling or visiting family during the summer holidays, but that has not stopped the rise in COVID-19 cases. As the highly contagious delta variant becomes widespread, infection clusters are being found in department stores and commercial complexes as well as restaurants.

Tokyo announced a daily tally of 2,962 new confirmed cases on Monday, breaking the record for Mondays. Nationwide, daily cases hit 20,000 for the first time on Friday.