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

The main street in Tokyo's Asakusa area is crowded with tourists on Sept. 20, 2020, the second day of a four-day holiday, despite the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo)

 

As of 10:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 21 (Japan time)

• Japan confirmed on Monday 312 new coronavirus cases, the lowest daily tally in a week, amid concerns over a pickup in infections in the midst of a four-day holiday that prompted people to go out to domestic tourist spots.
  
  
• India's famed Taj Mahal reopened on Monday after being closed for tourists for over six months due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to local media
  
  
• Fujifilm Holdings Corp. said Monday it has completed delayed clinical tests of Avigan, a potential treatment for COVID-19, paving the way for the application of sales and production of the antivirus drug.
  
  
• A chatbot traveler assistance service powered by artificial intelligence has been launched at Vienna international airport to help users obtain real-time information related to the new coronavirus

As of 11:55 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 20 (Japan time)

• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. security alliance and work together to tackle the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday night in their first phone call since Suga took office.
  
  
• Camping has been growing in popularity and sales of related goods rising in recent months in Japan as people wanting to go out with friends and family members during the COVID-19 pandemic turn to outdoor recreation.

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

As of 11 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18 (Japan time)

• Japan received an estimated 8,700 foreign travelers in August, down 99.7 percent from a year earlier, amid the coronavirus pandemic, though showing a month-on-month pickup in volume, government data showed Friday.
  
  
• A member of the House of Representatives has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and been admitted to a hospital, the lower house's secretariat said Friday, the first confirmed infection of a Japanese lawmaker.
  
  
• The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed the 30 million mark on Friday, with some 940,000 deaths for a mortality rate of around 3 percent, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
  
  
• Japanese travel agencies and hotels began Friday accepting reservations for trips to and from Tokyo starting Oct. 1 under the government's subsidy program, which was launched in July excluding the capital due to a spike in coronavirus cases there.

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People make taro soup in a 6.5-meter pot on a riverside in Yamagata, northeastern Japan, on Sept. 20, 2020, with about 4,000 cups served to visitors in a drive-through manner to avoid coronavirus infection. The event was held as a replacement of the canceled annual taro-cooking festival, the largest of its kind in Japan, amid the virus pandemic. (Kyodo) 

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