Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
People protest against holding the Tokyo Olympics in front of the capital's Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground where a ceremony is being held to mark the start of the Tokyo leg of the torch relay for the Summer Games on July 9, 2021. The ceremony was held behind closed doors and the torch relay was removed from public roads across most of Tokyo due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
As of 11 p.m., Saturday, July 10
- Some 75 percent of people aged 65 and over in Japan have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with most of them set to be fully vaccinated by the end of July, a government tally showed Saturday.
- Tokyo Olympics' softball and baseball games scheduled at Fukushima Azuma stadium will be held behind closed doors, Fukushima Prefectural Gov. Masao Uchibori said Saturday.
- A Lithuanian Olympic swimmer suspected of being infected with coronavirus has been confirmed negative following the last of a series of tests on Saturday, according to the city hosting the Lithuanian delegation to the Tokyo Games.
- A total of 80.5 percent of university seniors in Japan who are scheduled to graduate next March have secured job offers as of July 1, an improvement from last year when job-hunting was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey.
- The finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies gathered Friday in Italy for two-day talks to address an increasingly uneven economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and to push for plans that would keep multinational companies from evading taxes by shifting their profits overseas.
- Tokyo Olympic organizers said late Friday they have reversed their earlier decision to allow up to 10,000 spectators at daytime events on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, a day after deciding to stage the games behind closed doors at almost all venues due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Tokyo area.
- The government will ask duty-free stores to check the date of entry to Japan in customers' passports and report if they were shopping in violation of the required 14-day quarantine period, sources close to the matter said Friday.
As of 11 p.m., Friday, July 9
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga may have been counting on the Tokyo Olympics to buoy public sentiment before calling a general election this year, but the games could turn into his biggest liability with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
- Australia said Friday it will conduct a home quarantine trial for fully vaccinated travelers returning from overseas, a move that would alleviate strain on the country's hotel quarantine system.
- South Korea reported 1,316 daily coronavirus cases Friday, hitting a record high for a second day and over 1,000 cases for the third day in a row.
- The finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies will start their two-day meeting in Italy on Friday, with talks likely to focus on efforts to address an increasingly uneven economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and international taxation reform.
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledged Friday to work toward a safe and secure Tokyo Olympics later this month after organizers said the global sporting event will be held mostly without spectators amid a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.
- The Tokyo segment of the Olympic torch relay started with a small-scale ceremony on Friday, a day after organizers decided to stage the games without spectators at almost all venues due to a surge in coronavirus infections.
- The U.S. government is still considering whether first lady Jill Biden will attend the Tokyo Olympics, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday as Japan decided to ban spectators from venues in the capital area due to coronavirus outbreaks just weeks ahead of the opening ceremony.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - July 3~9
People line up to receive COVID-19 tests at a facility in Seoul on July 9, 2021, amid surging virus infections. South Korea logged 1,316 virus cases the previous day, hitting a daily record for the second consecutive day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
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
