TOKYO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- With new cases reported in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu infection have amounted to 283 in Japan on Thursday.

    Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the government will convene a meeting on Friday to deliberate a shift in measures from trying to shut the flu out of the country to curbing the domestic spread of the virus.

    The spread of the new flu virus could be contained in the Tokyo metropolitan area as the two school girl patients were infected with the virus in the United States, not in Japan, said Kawamura.

    During a budget committee session at the upper house, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said the A/H1N1 influenza has been "substantially widespread" in Japan.

    The government will follow the ever-changing situation and try to strike a balance between the need for anti-epidemic measures and avoiding strains on people's lives, he said.

    On Wednesday, two school girls were confirmed to be infected with the new flu in Tokyo, becoming the first cases outside the Kansai region.

    The Tokyo metropolitan government has instructed three high schools to keep the nine students and teachers, who were in New York with the two infected girls, from attending school.

    Meanwhile, the health authorities were attempting to track the 17 people who had close contact with the girls on the same flight back from New York.

Special Report:  World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu