Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
Boys belonging to a youth sumo club train while keeping a distance from each other in Kashiwa in Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, on June 23, 2020. The club resumed training from the previous week after closing for three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo)
As of 11 p.m., Saturday, June 27 (Japan time)
- The J-League's second and third divisions kicked off Saturday after a four-month break brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
- The Tokyo metropolitan government on Saturday reported 57 new coronavirus infections in the capital, the highest number of daily cases since the government lifted the national state of emergency over the pandemic in late May.
- The European Union is considering reopening borders to visitors from more than 10 countries outside the bloc including Japan, South Korea and Canada from July 1, after months of travel restrictions over the coronavirus outbreak, an EU diplomatic source said.
- H.I.S. Co. plans to close around 80 to 90 outlets in Japan, or about a third, within a year as part of cost-cutting efforts after the major travel agency was left reeling at the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
- The United States saw the number of new coronavirus cases exceed 40,000 in a single day, Vice President Mike Pence said Friday, but emphasized that more than half of the country's 50 states are reopening safely without seeing substantial outbreaks.
- U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres will not attend a service commemorating the 1945 nuclear attack on Hiroshima this year amid ongoing travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, his spokesman indicated Friday.
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As of 11 p.m., Friday, June 26 (Japan time)
- The daily number of new coronavirus cases reported in Japan on Friday topped 100 for the first time since May 9.
- British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said Friday it has agreed with the Japanese government to promote talks on supplying Japan with the experimental coronavirus vaccine it is jointly developing with the University of Oxford.
- Nintendo Co. President Shuntaro Furukawa said Friday that production of Switch game consoles, which could not keep up with the surge in demand due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, is likely to return to normal soon.
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Japan's shareholder meetings peaked Friday with some 700 companies holding their annual gathering. However, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a change in how the meetings are staged, with some companies opting for virtual meetings and others scaled-down events to prevent the spread of the virus.
- The Oze National Park will be fully accessible for the hiking season from next week, but with rescue services limited by the coronavirus pandemic, the park's preservation body said Friday.
- As the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic ripple across Japan, foreign asylum seekers are among the hardest hit, seeing the support available to them curtailed just as times get tougher during a process that can take years and rarely results in success.
- Seattle Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi said Thursday he will start the coronavirus-shortened MLB season at full throttle following the decision earlier this week to hold Opening Day in late July.
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
People wearing face masks walk in Tokyo's Shinjuku area on June 26, 2020, amid concerns over a possible second wave of coronavirus infections. (Kyodo)
