Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
As of 10:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 4 (Japan time)
- The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee informed the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday of its plans to cope with conditions related to the current coronavirus outbreak during the torch relay starting from March 26.
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said Wednesday it will start developing a drug to treat people infected with the fast-spreading new coronavirus and aims to commercialize it in as early as nine months
- Chinese health authorities warned in new guidelines published Wednesday that the novel coronavirus can be transmitted through contact with contaminated excrement and urine
- The national high school baseball invitational tournament, slated to begin March 19, will either be held without spectators or canceled because of the new coronavirus, the Japan High School Baseball Federation said Wednesday.
- Test kit to detect coronavirus in 1 hour may be released in March
- The number of coronavirus infections reported in Japan topped 1,000 on Wednesday. The tally, based on information provided by the health ministry and local authorities, included 706 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
- Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. said Wednesday they will reduce domestic flights from this Friday to next Thursday, the first cutback in air services in Japan amid the spread of the new coronavirus.
- South Korea compiled an 11.7 trillion won ($9.85 billion) supplementary budget on Wednesday to strengthen anti-virus measures and prop up its economy as its coronavirus cases topped 5,600.
- The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world has topped 90,000, World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said.
- U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that his administration may consider expanding travel restrictions to countries including Japan to counter the spread of the new coronavirus.
- The International Olympic Committee it is confident this summer's Tokyo Games will open as scheduled in July amid concerns over possible disruptions caused by the current worldwide coronavirus outbreak.
- Sales of telecommunication devices such as web cameras and headphones with an attached microphone are rising across Japan as more people opt to work from home amid growing fears of the spread of the new coronavirus.
- The Federal Reserve moved ahead with its first emergency interest rate cut since the 2008 global financial crisis, saying the spread of the coronavirus poses "new risks" to economic activity in the United States and abroad.
As of 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 3 (Japan time)
- China's capital will strengthen the city's prevention measures against imported coronavirus cases by enforcing a 14-day quarantine and observation for those traveling from severely infected countries, the Beijing municipal government said Tuesday.
- Hong Kong will send four chartered flights this week to bring home 533 people stranded in China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak that has been under lockdown since late January, the territory's leader said Tuesday.
- Scientists in Japan are rushing to beat the COVID-19 disease by analyzing with supercomputers existing drugs that can be used against the new virus infections as the outbreak quickly spreads around the world
- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday he hopes to fully tap into a fiscal 2019 reserve fund of 270 billion yen ($2.5 billion) for a fresh emergency package aimed at tackling the new coronavirus outbreak
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