Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, May 19
- North Korea has been reluctant to accept vaccination monitoring by a U.N.-backed COVAX facility, blurring the outlook for when the country can receive novel coronavirus vaccines through the platform, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
- The Japanese government said Wednesday it will bar the entry of all foreign travelers who have visited Thailand and six other countries in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
- India on Wednesday reported a record 4,529 COVID-19 deaths over a one-day period, bringing its total fatalities from coronavirus infections to 283,248, the third most in the world after the United States and Brazil
- Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Wednesday warned that downward pressure on economic activities could grow stronger due to uncertainty over the pace of the country's vaccination rollout after the pandemic-hit Japanese economy shrank more than expected in the first three months of 2021.
- International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said Wednesday his organization is prepared to send additional medical staff to the Tokyo Olympics as part of efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
- Okinawa Prefecture has decided to ask the central government to add it to areas under a COVID-19 state of emergency, a prefectural source said Wednesday, as part of efforts to implement tougher measures against the virus amid a surge of infections in Japan.
- U.S. Congress on Tuesday approved a bill aimed at combating hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans following a sharp rise in such incidents amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As of 11 p.m., Tuesday, May 18
- The Japanese government said Tuesday it will impose stricter border regulations for those traveling from Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka to prevent a more contagious coronavirus variant that was first found in India from spreading.
- The Japanese government will consider allowing pharmacists to administer COVID-19 vaccines to speed up the country's slow inoculation process, the minister in charge of the vaccinations said Tuesday.
- India's total COVID-19 cases exceeded 25 million Tuesday, with a record 4,329 deaths in a one-day period, the Indian government said.
- The Japanese government said Tuesday it will fix an embarrassing COVID-19 vaccine booking system fault that allowed reservations to be made using nonexistent application numbers.
- After the Japanese government's second state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic led the country's economy to its first shrinkage in three quarters in the January-March period, the third emergency declared in April could bring another contraction the following quarter, economists say.
- Japan's economy in the January-March period contracted an annualized real 5.1 percent from the previous quarter, the first shrinkage in three quarters, as a second state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic dented consumption, government data showed Tuesday.
- The United States will share with other countries an additional 20 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, raising its total supply for international distribution to 80 million doses by the end of June, the White House said Monday.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - May 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)
https://www.seikatubunka.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/chiiki_tabunka/tabunka/tabunkasuishin/0000001452.html - AMDA Medical Information Center's "Multilingual Consultation Service"
- Available in Simple Japanese and English, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Also available in Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese on designated weekdays. Check schedule here.
03-6233-9266 - Tokyo Metropolitan Government's COVID-19 info
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/ - Tokyo Metropolitan Government hotline
https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/contacts
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (including weekends and holidays)
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"
https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/hotline/
- Available in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese 24 hours a day
050-3816-2787
+81-50-3816-2787 (from overseas) - 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