As of 11 p.m., Sunday, March 8 (Japan time)

• The Japan Rugby Football Union is considering not resuming play this weekend on account of the continuing threat of the new coronavirus outbreak, a source with the union said Sunday.
  
  
• China's health authorities on Sunday reported 44 additional cases of novel coronavirus infection, bringing the country's overall caseload to 80,695.
  
  
• South Korea's health authorities on Sunday said 367 more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, bringing the country's total number of confirmed cases to 7,134.
  
  
• With food delivery services booming in the wake of an outbreak of the new coronavirus, drivers, who have contact with various people on a daily basis, have been forced to make a tough choice on whether to wear protective face masks.
  
  
• Sony Corp., Honda Motor Co. and other major companies in Japan are cancelling or postponing their spring initiation ceremonies for new recruits in response to the government's call to avoid mass gatherings to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

As of 11 p.m., Saturday, March 7 (Japan time)

• Many schools in major Japanese cities are providing open classrooms for students after the government's decision to close all elementary, junior high and high schools from March 2 over coronavirus fears as a large number of parents have no other way to look after their children, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.
  
  
• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday the government will launch a scheme to extend zero interest loans with no collateral to small and midsized companies reeling from the new-coronavirus turmoil.
  
  
• South Korea's Health and Welfare Ministry said Saturday that it has confirmed another 174 coronavirus infection cases, taking the nation's tally to over 6,700.
  
  
• A total of 21 crew and passengers aboard a cruise ship off the coast of California have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the U.S. government said Friday.
  
  
• Japan's Imperial Household Agency is taking a series of precautions against the new coronavirus to protect the emperor and other members of the imperial family from infection in the face of the pneumonia-causing virus outbreak in the country.
  
  
• If the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus forces Japan to cancel the Tokyo Olympics, it would reduce the country's annual gross domestic product growth by 1.4 percent, according to an estimate by a securities firm.
  
  
• Greece's Olympic committee said Friday it will limit the number of guests at next week's Tokyo Games flame lighting ceremony in Olympia, western Greece, due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.