As of 11 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 3

• Japan reported 12,017 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, the second highest on record, adding to growing concerns about hospital bed shortages, with some doctors criticizing the government's response.
  
  
• The Chinese city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic, has locked down parts of the city, after local authorities confirmed three new cases of the highly contagious Delta variant, state-run media reported Tuesday.
  
  
• Eighteen more people associated with the Tokyo Olympics have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total since the start of July to 294, games organizers said Tuesday.
  
  
• The Japanese government said Monday it will tighten border controls for travelers from three U.S. states, Finland and some other areas in response to the spread of highly contagious variants of the novel coronavirus.

As of 11 p.m., Monday, Aug. 2

• A Cambodian government agency that uses dogs to detect land mines said Monday that some have been successfully trained to detect coronavirus infections in humans.
  
  
• Japan reported 8,393 new coronavirus cases on Monday, almost double the figure confirmed the same day in the previous week, as infections continue to surge in and around the capital where the Olympics are being held.
  
  
• The policy chief of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday called for active debate in the Diet on legal revisions that would introduce lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
  
  
• Ecuadorian Sports Minister Sebastian Palacios has said the Olympics currently under way in Tokyo are significant in uniting the world through the power of sports during a difficult time with the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• Temporary post offices opened in the Tokyo Olympic athletes' village and the main press center have become valuable souvenir shopping spots for foreign athletes and news reporters whose activities are restricted amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• Seventeen more people associated with the Tokyo Olympics have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total since the start of July to 276, games organizers said Monday.
  
  
• Three prefectures in the Tokyo metropolitan area and Osaka entered into a COVID-19 state of emergency Monday due to a recent spike in coronavirus cases, joining the capital and Okinawa, amid fears of a medical system collapse during the Tokyo Olympics.
  
  
• Survivors of the atomic bombings in Japan have a "profound role" to play in catastrophes such as the coronavirus pandemic, a leading American psychohistorian renowned for his studies of people under stress told Kyodo News in a recent interview.

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - July 24~30

 

Athletes compete amid heavy rain in the women's 400-meter hurdles semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 2, 2021, at the National Stadium in Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo