Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:

People wearing face masks visit Inokashira Park in Tokyo on Sept. 22, 2020. Open air recreation spots in urban areas were crowded with visitors amid continuing worries over the novel coronavirus on the final day of Japan's four-day weekend. (Kyodo)

As of 9:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24 (Japan time)

• Japan could face a resurgence of coronavirus infections, although the number of cases has been on a downward trend since late July, a group of experts on virus prevention said Thursday.
  
  
• International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach asked organizers and stakeholders on Thursday to work diligently toward making the Tokyo Games, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, safe and successful in Japan next summer.
  
  
• All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Co. said Thursday they will soon resume some of the flights to China that they suspended after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga affirmed in a phone call Thursday with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Japan will continue to work with the international community to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  

As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 23 (Japan time)

• Japan will allow the entry of foreign athletes for next summer's rescheduled Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics provided they meet a strict set of requirements to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, a government-led panel said Wednesday.
  
  
• A woman running a sex worker-dispatching business sued the state on Wednesday, saying its blanket exclusion of the sex industry from a cash handout program to support small companies hit by the coronavirus is discrimination banned under the Constitution.
  
  
• The Bank of Japan will consider extending beyond the end of March its emergency support measures for companies facing financial difficulties amid the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday.
  
  
• Fujifilm Holdings Corp. said Wednesday it will seek regulatory approval as early as October for using its antivirus drug Avigan to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus as clinical tests have shown efficacy in easing symptoms.
  
  
• Tokyo confirmed Wednesday an additional 59 coronavirus infections, marking the lowest daily figure in nearly three months, the metropolitan government said.
  
  
• The Tokyo Game Show, one of the world's largest gaming industry conventions, opened Wednesday entirely online for the first time since it started in 1996.
  
  
• Japan is considering easing its coronavirus-related travel restrictions as early as Oct. 1 to grant entry to foreign nationals planning to stay in the country for longer than three months, sources with knowledge of the plans said Wednesday.
  
  
• International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said Tuesday the recent staging of various sporting events across the world despite restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic should provide "confidence" in preparing for the Tokyo Games next summer.
  
  
• The United States and China on Tuesday traded jabs over the coronavirus pandemic at a virtual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations headquarters, overshadowing the international body's calls for unity amid the ongoing global health crisis.
  
  
• The death toll in the United States from the coronavirus pandemic exceeded 200,000 on Tuesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - September 12~18

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Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels wearing a face mask due to the coronavirus pandemic watches a game against the San Diego Padres from the dugout on Sept. 22, 2020, in San Diego, California. (Kyodo)

 

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