Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
As of 10:30 p.m., Friday, May 1 (Japan time)
- Japan's education ministry presented Friday the option of schools reopening for some grades only to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections, with priority given to classes for first- and sixth-graders at elementary schools as well as senior students at junior high schools.
- More than 117 million people are likely to make trips in China during the five-day May Day holiday that started Friday, official media reported, amid lingering concern over a possible second wave of new coronavirus infections in the country.
- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he is seeking to extend the nationwide state of emergency imposed over the coronavirus epidemic by about a month, after a government panel of experts recommended that the current measures be maintained for a while.
- With demand for face masks still strong in Japan, a wide variety of stores have looked to cash in on people's desire to protect themselves against the coronavirus' insidious spread.
- Japan will provide anti-flu drug Avigan free of charge to 43 countries for clinical studies on its efficacy as a coronavirus treatment, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday.
- The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed 165 new coronavirus infections on Friday, up from 46 the previous day, sources close to the government said.
- Families raising children in Japan are facing the big question of who will look after their children if both parents become infected with coronavirus, as options are limited.
- A government panel of medical experts considers the current emergency steps as necessary "for the time being," despite the number of new daily coronavirus infections trending downward, a Japanese minister said Friday.
- A group of Mongolian Paralympic athletes who came to Japan in February to train with hopes of competing in the now-postponed Tokyo Games have found themselves unable to return home amid the new coronavirus pandemic.
- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he is confident the COVID-19-causing coronavirus originated from an infectious diseases lab in China, adding he could impose tariffs as a punishment for the country's lackluster response that allowed its global spread.
- U.S. intelligence authorities said Thursday that the new coronavirus was not manmade, but they will continue to examine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or can be blamed on a laboratory in China.
As of 11 p.m., Thursday, April 30 (Japan time)
- Firms in Japan are likely to accelerate changes to their April recruitment schedules if the government decides to push the start of the academic year to September in the wake of school closures due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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The coronavirus pandemic, which has forced a one-year postponement for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, is also casting a large shadow over global anti-doping measures.
- Doctors in Europe and the United States have been reporting an increase in cases of children who have developed Kawasaki disease or symptoms similar to the rare inflammatory syndrome, with concerns raised over a possible link to the new coronavirus, according to local media reports.
- Some small municipalities in Japan began distributing on Thursday one-off cash handouts to people to help cushion them from the economic fallout related to the new coronavirus' spread.
- Japan's parliament enacted Thursday a 25.69 trillion yen ($240 billion) extra budget for fiscal 2020 to finance an emergency package aimed at aiding the economy and people hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it has offered a specially designed minivan to a Tokyo hospital to transport coronavirus patients with serious symptoms, the latest step in the group's efforts to help frontline workers fight the pandemic.
- Pitcher Carter Stewart, last season's history-making signing for the Pacific League's SoftBank Hawks, is learning to make the most of his eye-opening opportunity to play in Japan while dealing with the constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
- The Tokyo metropolitan government on Thursday confirmed 46 new coronavirus infections, falling below 50 for the second straight day.
- With export markets and restaurants shuttered for weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Australian producers and wholesalers have begun selling high-end stock directly to the public, giving ordinary households rare access to luxury meats and seafood.
- Japan's consumer confidence fell to the lowest level on record in April as the economy struggles with the fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday.
- The 80,000 volunteers who signed up for the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be offered another chance to lend a hand if the events take place as rescheduled next summer, but whether they can free up their time again is another question.
- The Japanese government is considering extending the current nationwide state of emergency through May 6 by around one month in a bid to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, government sources said Thursday.
- Funeral operators in Japan have recently been offering online services for bereaved families to mourn their loved ones remotely, amid government calls to reduce human contact to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
- The U.S. economy contracted an annualized real 4.8 percent in the January to March period due to the coronavirus pandemic, marking the biggest quarterly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis, data from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday.
List of shops closed in Tokyo following emergency declaration
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'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 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