(Philadelphia)
[Getty/Kyodo]
As of 10 p.m., Thursday, March 19 (Japan time)
- All Nippon Airways Co. is planning for 5,000 of its cabin attendants to take a few days of leave starting April due to flight cancellations forced by the spread of the new coronavirus, sources close to the matter said Thursday.
- The International Olympic Committee reasserted its policy of starting this summer's Tokyo Games on July 24 as scheduled in a conference call with the Japanese Olympic Committee and other Asian Olympic bodies on Thursday.
- The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow to the manufacturing, farming and fishing industries in rural Japan as it has halted the arrival of Chinese trainees they have resorted to for labor.
- Coronavirus infections through four live music venues in Osaka appear to be over as no new cases among visitors have been reported for a week, local authorities said Thursday.
- The number of novel coronavirus patients in Wuhan, the epicenter of China's virus outbreak, were manipulated in time for President Xi Jinping's visit last week, a local doctor told Kyodo News Thursday.
- The planned visit by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to Britain in the second quarter of this year will be postponed due to the new coronavirus outbreak, Japan's top government spokesman said Thursday.
- The number of foreign visitors to Japan posted the largest drop in nearly nine years in February with a 58.3 percent plunge, dented by travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, government data showed Thursday.
- Australia and New Zealand will close their borders to all noncitizens and nonresidents, both governments announced on Thursday, in an attempt to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
- A labor union for nonregular workers at Tokyo Disneyland on Thursday requested its operator to keep paying them while the major theme park remains closed over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
- International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach held a "constructive" conference call Wednesday with 220 athlete representatives about the prospects for this summer's Olympic Games and the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
- China's health authorities on Thursday reported that there were no new cases of novel coronavirus infection in Wuhan, the epicenter of the country's outbreak, the previous day, marking a first since the viral epidemic began late last year.
- The U.S. State Department is suspending routine visa services in countries facing heightened travel alerts, including Japan and South Korea, amid the coronavirus pandemic, embassy websites for the two countries showed.
- Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso referred to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as "cursed" due to mounting speculation that the Games may need to be postponed or canceled over the coronavirus pandemic.
- Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi, who has criticized pushing ahead with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will still take part in Thursday's Olympic flame handover ceremony, Tokyo organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said.
- The number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus exceeds 200,000 worldwide and more than 8,100 people have died from the disease, according to a Kyodo tally compiled based on data from affected countries and media reports.
As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, March 18 (Japan time)
- Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido will lift Thursday a state of emergency declared late last month following the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, its governor said.
- As Malaysia ordered a two-week nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, a horde of workers commuting daily to Singapore formed a long queue at the border checkpoints to make it in before the measure took effect midnight Tuesday.
- The Japanese government and the ruling coalition are considering providing cash to households in an effort to buoy personal spending dented by the coronavirus outbreak, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.
- Japan will ask travelers from 38 European and other countries, including Egypt and Iran, to self-quarantine for 14 days after their arrival, in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.
- A Japanese man infected with the novel coronavirus who went to a pub earlier this month saying he wanted to "spread the virus" died Wednesday at a hospital in central Japan, investigative sources said.
List of major facilities, events affected by coronavirus in Japan
Useful resources for foreign residents and visitors in Japan
- Japan National Tourism Organization's "Guide for when you are feeling ill"
- Multilingual clinic/hospital search available in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese
https://www.jnto.go.jp/emergency/eng/mi_guide.html - JNTO's "Japan Visitor Hotline"
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese 24 hours a day
050-3816-2787
+81-50-3816-2787 (from overseas)
http://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001328767.pdf - Tokyo Metropolitan Government's hotline
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
0570-550571
- Available via fax for those with hearing impairments
03-5388-1396 - Japan's health ministry hotline
- Available in Japanese only, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
0120-565653 - World Health Organization's "Q&A on coronaviruses"
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses