Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
Visitors pose with the Billiken god statue at Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka on May 30, 2020, on the first weekend after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an end to the coronavirus state of emergency. (Kyodo)
As of 10 p.m., Sunday, May 31 (Japan time)
- With the coronavirus pandemic necessitating the postponement or cancellation of large events across the globe, a number of major film festivals have come together to curate a list of more than 100 films that audiences can watch without having to set foot out of the door.
- More than 80 percent of respondents said they felt the government's economic aid, including cash handouts of 100,000 yen to residents, in response to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak was slow, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
- Current and former students of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies have launched a website in 13 languages to help foreigners in Japan stay abreast of information on the coronavirus pandemic, including from the authorities.
- The government has no immediate plan to place Tokyo and Fukuoka under a state of emergency again despite the areas seeing an increase in the number of coronavirus infection cases in recent days, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Sunday.
- Local governments in Japan are waking up to the need to prepare for a worst-case scenario -- a natural disaster and a coronavirus outbreak hitting their areas at the same time.
- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he is postponing the Group of Seven summit from June until September and that he wants to invite Russia and other countries to the meeting, the latest in a series of flip-flops over the coronavirus pandemic-impacted talks.
- The Indian government said it will reopen economic activities in a phased manner from Monday with the number of coronavirus infections in the country topping 170,000.
As of 11 p.m., Saturday, May 30 (Japan time)
- A probe by nuclear regulators into the causes of the March 2011 Fukushima crisis has been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, with the dispatch of staff from Tokyo postponed for fear of spreading infection among the some 4,000 on-site decommissioning workers.
- Thirty-eight of Japan's 47 prefectures are set to fully reopen their economies on Monday as they seek to strike a balance between rebuilding the economies hit by the coronavirus and implementing measures to prevent a second wave of infections
- With many smokers reconsidering a habit that seems more dangerous than ever as the coronavirus pandemic rages, an app promoted by a city in western Japan last year may be the way forward for those ready to quit.
- Around 80 percent of mayors across Japan disagree with or are wary of a proposed shift in the start of the academic year to September from April, according to a recent survey conducted amid the closure of schools due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- New York City, the hardest-hit spot in the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, will start easing its restrictions on businesses in phases from June 8 as the local spread of the virus has apparently peaked, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - May 23-29
Useful resources for foreign residents and visitors in Japan
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Tokyo Coronavirus Support Center for Foreign Residents (TOCOS)" multilingual hotline
- Available in Simple Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Nepali, Indonesian, Tagalog, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Khmer, and Burmese, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays except national holidays.
0120-296-004 (toll free) - AMDA Medical Information Center's "Multilingual Consultation Service Regarding COVID-19"
(April 10~May 20, 2020)
- Available in English, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends and national holidays. Also available in Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Spanish, Vietnamese and Portuguese on designated weekdays. Check schedule here.
03-6233-9266
- Available in English and Chinese on weekdays only, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
090-3359-8324 - Tokyo Metropolitan Government's COVID-19 info
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/flow/ - Tokyo Metropolitan Government 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 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 - 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
Tokyo's Shibuya area is crowded with people on May 30, 2020, on the first weekend after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an end to the coronavirus state of emergency. (Kyodo)
