Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
(Photo taken on June 1, 2020, shows fewer guests than usual seen at restaurant balconies above the Kamo River, a famous tourist spot in Kyoto, amid lingering concern over coronavirus infection)
As of 11 p.m., Thursday, June 11 (Japan time)
- The Tokyo metropolitan government on Thursday lifted its warning about a possible increase in the number of coronavirus infections in the capital, moving a step closer to a full resumption of economic and social activities in the capital.
- Chubu airport in central Japan will resume some international flights from next Tuesday after operations were suspended for more than two months due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the operator said Thursday.
- Japanese drugmaker Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday it plans to launch a clinical trial using stem cells to develop a treatment for severe cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
- Devices connected to the internet and artificial intelligence are being introduced to nursing care in Japan where there is a chronic shortage of caregivers as society ages and the novel coronavirus pandemic is restricting face-to-face contact.
- Japan plans to ease its coronavirus travel restrictions by letting in up to around 250 foreign travelers per day from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam, government sources said Wednesday.
- Business sentiment among large Japanese companies in the April-June period hit the lowest level in 11 years amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a government survey showed Thursday.
As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, June 10 (Japan time)
- Japan Airlines Co. said Wednesday it will ease domestic flight reductions from later this month as it expects a recovery in travel demand following the lifting of a state of emergency over the new coronavirus epidemic in May.
- A man who lost his father to the new coronavirus said Wednesday that he has filed a suit seeking compensation and an apology from local governments, including the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the outbreak.
- The Japan High School Baseball Federation said Wednesday they will hold a series of games at Koshien Stadium in August between teams that had been selected for the cancelled spring invitational high school baseball championship.
- The global economy is projected to shrink 6.0 percent in 2020 from the previous year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday, labeling the new coronavirus pandemic as the worst economic crisis since World War II.
- The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a draft second extra budget for fiscal 2020, totaling 31.91 trillion yen ($296 billion), to provide additional funding to front-line medical workers and support people reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
- SoftBank Group Corp. said Tuesday that 0.43 percent, or 191, of 44,066 blood samples collected from its employees, medical workers and others in Japan had antibodies for the new coronavirus.
- An estimated 4,943 nonregular workers had been laid off or were expected to be laid off in Japan due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic as of last Friday, more than double the figure from a week earlier, data released by the labor ministry showed Tuesday.
Updates on major shops, facilities as economy reopens in Japan
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
(A waitress of a traditional Japanese-style inn attends to a guest through a small hole in a plastic panel installed at its front desk in the Arima hot spring resort in Kobe, western, Japan, on June 4, 2020, to prevent coronavirus infection)
