Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:
As of 11 p.m., Monday, July 12
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday she will host the first informal meeting of APEC leaders virtually on Friday to discuss the Asia-Pacific region's COVID-19 recovery and economic crisis.
- The so-called vaccine passports Japan plans to issue to allow people inoculated against COVID-19 to travel internationally will be free of charge, the government's top spokesman said Monday.
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government put Tokyo under its fourth COVID-19 state of emergency on Monday in an effort to contain a resurgence in coronavirus infections.
- Japanese prefectural governors on Sunday called on the central government to address a coronavirus vaccine supply shortage and implement a large stimulus to bolster pandemic-hit local economies.
As of 10 p.m., Sunday, July 11
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government is set to put Tokyo under what will be its fourth COVID-19 state of emergency from Monday to Aug. 22, a period that will cover the duration of the Olympics, in an effort to curb a resurgence in coronavirus infections.
- Masters Tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama will miss the Open Championship later this month in Sandwich, England, as he continues to battle COVID-19 infection, his management said Sunday.
- North Korea's unwavering determination not to open its border with China to ward off the intrusion of the novel coronavirus has been fanning fears that the nuclear-armed country's citizens cannot receive food in satisfying quantities or vaccination anytime soon.
- Japan will start accepting applications for so-called vaccine passports from July 26 for people who have been fully inoculated against COVID-19 to travel internationally, the top government spokesman said Sunday.
- Nearly 30 percent of respondents in a private-sector survey said their summer bonuses fell from last year, indicating that more Japanese people are feeling the pinch of the coronavirus pandemic hurting corporate earnings.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - July 3~9
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