Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
Players of the Brazilian women's sitting volleyball team keep their masks on for protection against the coronavirus during a preliminary-round match against Japan on Aug. 29, 2021, at Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba near Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
As of 11 p.m., Friday, Sept. 3
- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed his intention to resign Friday amid mounting criticism over his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Japanese government plans to allow restaurants to serve alcohol even in areas under a COVID-19 emergency if sufficient steps are taken to prevent infections, according to a draft plan for restarting economic and social activities, government sources said Friday.
As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 2
- Yokozuna Hakuho's participation in this month's Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament remains up in the air despite the 36-year-old testing negative for the coronavirus, the Japan Sumo Association revealed Thursday.
- Tokyo is still behind its goal of securing 7,000 beds for COVID-19 patients, the metropolitan government said Thursday, as the medical system remains strained due to a surge of coronavirus cases amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
- A foreign Paralympian has been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19, the first such case among athletes either at the Tokyo Olympics or Paralympics, the games organizing committee said Thursday.
- Former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday pledged an economic package totaling tens of trillions of yen to contain the coronavirus crisis as part of his policy platform for the upcoming ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election.
- The foreign matter found in some lots of Moderna Inc.'s vaccine distributed but suspended from use in Japan was confirmed to be stainless steel that was mixed during the manufacturing process, the health ministry said Wednesday.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Aug 21~27
Hiroshi Moriyama (L), parliamentary affairs chief of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, receives a statement of protest from opposition lawmakers, led by his Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan counterpart Jun Azumi (2nd from L), in Tokyo on Sept. 2, 2021, against the LDP's refusal to convene an extraordinary parliamentary session despite their calls to deliberate COVID-19 countermeasures. (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
