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

People wearing face masks walk in Tokyo's Shimbashi area on April 8, 2021. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike requested the central government the same day to designate the capital as eligible for a quasi-state of emergency to stem a resurgence in coronavirus infections. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

As of 11 p.m, Friday, April 9

• China has been holding a testing program for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in a bid to gauge how the country can take steps to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading during the major sports events.
  
  
• Japan's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 500,000 on Friday, as the country braces for a possible fourth wave of infections.
  
  
• A group of 21 people at Japan's national infection research center attended a farewell party in mid-March, when a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus was still in place in Tokyo and neighboring areas, according to health ministry officials.
  
  
• The Japanese government on Friday designated Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa prefectures as requiring stronger measures to fight COVID-19 amid a resurgence in infections, less than three weeks after fully lifting a state of emergency.
  
  
• A market in the central China city of Wuhan, where many people were confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus in the initial stage of the outbreak in late 2019, is expected to be demolished, the nation's media reported Thursday.

As of 11 p.m., Thursday, April 8

• Kyoto University Hospital said Thursday it has performed the world's first living donor lung transplant on a patient who lost functionality of both her lungs due to infection from the novel coronavirus.
  
  
• Thursday marked one year since the 76-day lockdown was lifted in China's central city of Wuhan, the first epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic, with many citizens still disgruntled by the government's response to the outbreak.
  
  
• Japan's daily cases of the new coronavirus on Thursday topped 3,000 for the second day in a row as fears over the impact of the sharp rebound on the country's medical system and the economy continue to intensify.
  
  
• Privately run coronavirus testing centers at Tokyo's Haneda airport for boarding passengers opened to the media on Thursday ahead of their official opening two days later.
  
  
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Thursday he intends to designate Tokyo for stronger measures to combat COVID-19 amid a sharp rebound in infections and mounting pressure on hospitals.
  
  
• Japan's government is considering moving athletes representing the country at this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to the front of the line for COVID-19 vaccination, an official with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday.

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Photo shows a shopping street crowded with people in Wuhan, China, on April 4, 2021, about one year after the world's first coronavirus lockdown was lifted in the city around two and a half months after its imposition. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo