As of 10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 11
- Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced Monday stricter lockdown rules for the nation's capital Kuala Lumpur and several states following a surge in coronavirus infection cases that he said have stretched the country's health care system to breaking point.
- Ceremonies to mark the Coming-of-Age Day in Japan were held online or outdoors Monday, with some municipalities canceling the event altogether to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus amid a recent countrywide surge.
- China said Monday that an expert group of the World Health Organization will visit the country later this week in a bid to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus.
- Japan is set to expand a state of emergency declared over the coronavirus pandemic to Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures, government and ruling party sources said Monday.
- Indonesia on Monday extended the closure of its borders to all international visitors for another two weeks until Jan. 28, as the country tries to keep out a potentially more transmissible variant of the novel coronavirus.
As of 10 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10
- Around 80 percent of people in Japan believe the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer should be canceled or rescheduled, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
- Ryukakusan Co. has begun reaching out to consumers in China, where e-commerce is big business, with the number of inbound tourists to Japan having nosedived due to travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Four people who arrived at Tokyo's Haneda airport from Brazil have been found to be infected with a new variant of the novel coronavirus, officials said Sunday, amid a resurgence of infections in Japan.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - January 2~8