Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
As of 11 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 15 (Japan time)
- Japan on Saturday reported more than 1,200 new cases of the novel coronavirus, topping the 1,000 mark for the third day, with cluster outbreaks and infections at home occurring at the height of the summer holiday season.
- Indonesia will continue not to open its doors to foreign tourists until a new coronavirus vaccine is found and immunity can be provided, a government official said Saturday, as the hard-hit country is conducting clinical testing for a vaccine.
- Tokyo on Saturday reported 385 new cases of the novel coronavirus, topping 380 for the second straight day, as the capital remained on alert amid rising infections at the height of the summer holiday season.
- Japan on Saturday commemorated the 75th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, with the emperor and empress, the prime minister and a limited number of people attending a ceremony to mourn the war dead that was scaled back due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- South Korea marked its largest daily increase in the number of coronavirus infections in five months on Saturday when it reported 166 new cases, most of which were in Seoul and surrounding metropolitan areas.
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Fumikazu Matsuzaki saw his business take a one-two punch from the coronavirus pandemic. His 40-year career in the "hanko" seal game was put suddenly in peril when the traditional document formalization procedure became the target of criticism for its inherent inefficiencies, particularly as more people were forced to work remotely.
- Japan is planning to keep limiting the maximum number of spectators at concerts, professional sports and other events to 5,000 as the spread of the novel coronavirus continues in various parts of the country, government officials said
As of 11 p.m., Friday, Aug. 14 (Japan time)
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said Friday five of its group companies will donate a total of 400 million yen ($3.75 million) to support Southeast Asian students in Japan affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- Japan and Malaysia agreed Friday they may ease coronavirus-related travel restrictions for expatriates in early September, if they take precautionary measures such as a 14-day self-quarantine period after entering their respective countries, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
- Tokyo reported on Friday 389 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the highest figure in about one week, with urban and tourist areas in Japan continuing to see a relatively large number of infections during the peak of the summer holiday season.
- As the chaos linked to the coronavirus pandemic causes a spike in unemployment, the bleak economic prospects of Japanese working-age people are increasing concern that the nation's already low birth rate could slip further, deepening the country's aging crisis.
- North Korea has decided to lift a lockdown imposed on the border city of Kaesong where the country's first suspected case of the novel coronavirus was detected late last month, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Friday.
- A proxy fight between Japanese restaurant chain operators Ootoya Holdings Co. and Colowide Co. has been heating up ahead of the latter's Aug. 25 takeover deadline, even as both struggle to ride out the coronavirus pandemic.
- The planned marriage between Princess Mako, a niece of Emperor Naruhito, and her boyfriend Kei Komuro remains up in the air amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, two years after Komuro began studying at a New York law school.
- Japan's Environment Ministry will begin development of a contactless garbage collection system for household waste in an effort to reduce the risk of infection to workers amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, ministry officials said Thursday.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - August 8~14
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