According to a new public letter that the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO) released as of today, the government over in Japan has notified other bodies in said country that a state of emergency regarding COVID-19 is now active, which in turn has caused CERO to shut down temporarily for one month.

In addition to the above information, the Governor of Tokyo asked people to refrain from going outside until May 6th, 2020. Nevertheless, since reviewers must-visit CERO’s office to conduct a review, it’s not possible for the company’s staff and reviewers to work from home, given the current state of the pandemic.

It’s worth noting that all operations, much like reviews — including those under examination — will be suspended from today (April 7th, 2020) until May 6th, 2020.

Furthermore, all staff members will be on standby at home, meaning that the main office will be closed during this time to prevent any potential problems.

With all of that said, you can read the full letter right here courtesy of cero.gr.jp:

“The government declared state of emergency regarding COVID-19, and the Governor of Tokyo asked people to refrain from going outside until May 6.

Since reviewers visit our office to conduct review, it is not possible for our staff and reviewer to work from home.

For this reason, all operations, including review (including those under review), will be suspended from today until May 6.

All staff will be on standby at home, and the office will be closed during this time. We will announce the resumption of business on our website.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and thank you for your understanding.”

CERO made mention that it will announce the resumption of business on its official website, which will be next month.

So, I bet you are thinking, “Well, will games still release as scheduled?” At this point, it’s unclear how things will play out, but given that the Governor of Tokyo asked people to refrain from going outside until the designated day has passed, expect to hear delays and other cancelations in an attempt to abide by government safety measures.

Lastly, you can read the full write-up by paying cero.gr.jp a visit.