Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
As of 11 p.m., Thursday, May 28 (Japan time)
- A hospital in Tokyo reported nine coronavirus cases Thursday in a suspected cluster infection, only a few days after Japan completely lifted a state of emergency over the pandemic.
- The government target to have cloth face masks dubbed "Abenomasks" delivered to all remaining households by the end of the month will not be met, a health ministry official said Thursday
- The novel coronavirus pandemic is dramatically transforming the landscape of the sharing economy in Japan as people look to reduce their risk of infection by steer clearing of services that bring them into close contact with others.
- Tokyo Tower, one of the Japanese capital's major sightseeing spots, reopened its observatories Thursday following nearly two months of closure as the country carefully moves toward regaining normality following the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis.
- The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has exceeded 100,000 as the country moves to reopen the economy that has been shut down to slow the spread of the virus, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Wednesday.
- The J-League is considering a plan to divide each of its three tiers into eastern and western divisions when it emerges from a roughly four-month stoppage prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, multiple sources said Wednesday.
As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, May 27 (Japan time)
- The University of Miyazaki and a Japanese firm said Wednesday their joint experiment has shown that a deep ultraviolet LED developed by the firm is effective in weakening the novel coronavirus, reducing its infection capacity by more than 99.9 percent
- The new coronavirus outbreak is projected to cut spending by overseas travelers to Japan between February and August by 2.36 trillion yen ($22 billion), a think tank said Wednesday, with figures only expected to return to pre-virus levels next spring.
- About 140 people, who had temporarily stayed in Japan in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak, on Wednesday returned on a charter plane to China's Wuhan, the original epicenter of the epidemic, a source close to the matter said.
- Vissel Kobe defender Gotoku Sakai expressed appreciation Wednesday for the health care workers who helped him make a full recovery after he became infected with the coronavirus
- A Liberal Democratic Party working group plans to recommend the government drop proposals to move the start of the 2021 academic year from April to September, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
- As Japan continues to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic, Crown Prince Fumihito and his family made 300 medical gowns by hand earlier this month and donated them for use by health care workers.
- The J-League is planning to play its first matches following a roughly four-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic on either June 27 or July 4, league sources said Tuesday.
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