Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
As of 11 p.m., Thursday, March 3
- Japan will ease its COVID-19 border controls further from March 14, raising the daily cap on entrants from overseas to 7,000 from the current 5,000, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday.
- Many people with disabilities have additional underlying health needs that make them particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, so Winter Paralympians and their teams have to take extra precautions.
- Japanese police received 83,042 consultation requests regarding domestic violence in 2021, a record-high number for at least the past two decades, official data showed Thursday, as more people stayed at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, March 2
- The government is set to extend the COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency in Tokyo and 14 prefectures as Japan has been facing a slower-than-expected fall in infection numbers due to the highly contagious Omicron variant, officials said Wednesday.
- Japan is considering further easing its COVID-19 border controls by raising the daily cap on new entrants to 7,000 from the current 5,000, a government source said Wednesday.
- South Korea reported over 200,000 new daily cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues to spread.
As of 11 p.m., Tuesday, March 1
- The Tokyo metropolitan government reported Tuesday 32 daily coronavirus deaths, matching a record high marked on Feb. 3 last year.
- Japan eased COVID-19 border controls on Tuesday, setting its limit on new entrants at 5,000 per day, up from the previous 3,500, and reducing or exempting quarantine periods for both Japanese and foreign nationals.
As of 11 p.m., Monday, Feb. 28
- The Japanese government said Monday that 19.3 percent of the country's population has received the third COVID-19 vaccine dose, with 49 percent of its elderly population vaccinated, as the country grapples to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - February 19~25
Useful resources for foreign residents and visitors in Japan
- Health ministry call center
COVID-19: 0120-565-653 (toll free)
COVID-19 Vaccines: 0120-761-770 (toll free)
-Interpreters available for English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; for Thai 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; for Vietnamese 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. - Health ministry's COVID-19 Vaccine Navigation website
https://v-sys.mhlw.go.jp/en/ - 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)