Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
[Getty/Kyodo]
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.
As of 11 p.m., Friday, March 6 (Japan time)
- The government decided Friday to cancel its memorial service next week to mark the ninth anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan that left more than 15,000 people dead amid fears of coronavirus spread.
- South Korea on Friday announced the suspension of a visa-waiver program for Japanese and a mandatory two-week quarantine for visitors from the country, in response to similar measures imposed by Tokyo in connection with the new coronavirus outbreak.
- Japan will temporarily nullify 2.8 million visas held by Chinese and 17,000 held by South Koreans to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading in the country, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
- The fallout from the coronavirus, which has caused some Japanese automakers to partially close plants, is likely to prolong both disruption of parts procurement in China and an ongoing sales slump, potentially forcing them to alter production plans in coming months, industry analysts say
- South Korea's Health and Welfare Ministry said Friday that it has confirmed 6,284 cases of infection with the new coronavirus, with the death toll at 42.
- China on Friday reported 143 new coronavirus infection cases for the mainland, most of them in the hard-hit province of Hubei, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 80,552.
- A map created online last month by a South Korean university student charting reported coronavirus cases by Japanese municipality as well as the movements of those infected has garnered praise for being an effective visual representation of the current situation.
- Some e-learning program providers are offering their services for free to help students keep up with their studies while schools in Japan remain closed over the coronavirus outbreak.
- The Italian government said Thursday the number of deaths from the new coronavirus has reached 148 while more than 3,800 people have been infected with the virus.
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