Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
<June 17, 2022>
- U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the emergency use of coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. to include children as young as 6 months old.
- More than 1,300 people have applied to travel to Japan on guided tours since the country restarted visa procedures to accept some leisure visitors from abroad a week ago as worries about the COVID-19 pandemic wane, a government agency said Friday.
- Thailand said Friday it will revoke pass registration and required coronavirus insurance for all people arriving in the Southeast Asian country on July 1.
<June 16, 2022>
- North Korea on Thursday reported an outbreak of another infectious disease at home, while the country has been struggling to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
<June 15, 2022>
- Japan will create an entity for infectious disease experts similar to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and bolster its crisis response, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.
<June 13, 2022>
- As Japan resumed visa procedures to accept foreign tourists last week, travel companies have been thrown into confusion over the lack of communication regarding entry procedures and last-minute COVID-19 guidelines.
<June 11, 2022>
- The United States will end the COVID-19 testing requirement for air travelers entering the country starting Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, deciding to lift a measure that has been in place for more than a year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
<June 10, 2022>
- Japan on Friday resumed visa procedures to accept foreign tourists, taking the first step toward increasing inbound tourism to help turn around its economy as worries about the COVID-19 pandemic wane.
- Japan's businesses are pinning hopes on an inbound tourism recovery as the country resumed the process of accepting foreign tourists for the first time since suspending it more than two years ago due to the coronavirus pandemic.
<June 9, 2022>
- An Indonesian business partner of a Japanese COVID-19 subsidy fraud suspect said Thursday he felt sorry and shocked over the man's sudden arrest earlier this week.
- When the coronavirus pandemic began over two years ago, people in Japan quickly donned masks en masse with little complaint. But now the government has relaxed its guidance on outdoor mask usage, the message appears not to be filtering through.
- U.S. biotechnology firm Moderna Inc. said Wednesday new clinical data on an experimental coronavirus vaccine showed effectiveness against the Omicron variant, making it the company's lead candidate for distribution as a fall booster shot.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - June 11~17
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)