Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
<July 15, 2022>
- Japan's daily COVID-19 cases topped 100,000 on Friday for the first time since early February, doubling from a week earlier, as the country enters a seventh wave of infections spurred by the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant.
- China's economy grew 0.4 percent from a year earlier during the April-June period, but the pace of expansion slowed against a backdrop of a prolonged lockdown in Shanghai, official data showed Friday.
<July 14, 2022>
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that "maximum caution" is warranted as medical experts warn of an "explosive" surge in COVID-19 cases in Japan, but no new restrictions on people's movements are planned for now.
- Japan's cumulative COVID-19 infections topped 10 million cases Thursday, with the country logging over 90,000 new cases for the second straight day, but the government has indicated there are no plans to impose restrictions at this point.
- The Tokyo metropolitan government raised its COVID-19 alert to the highest of four levels Thursday amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections.
- Japanese companies have become more reluctant to expand investment in China, criticizing the Communist-led government's radical "zero-COVID" policy, including the frequent imposition of lockdowns in major cities, as a political risk.
- Japanese digital transformation minister Karen Makishima has contracted the coronavirus during her trip to the United States, the Digital Agency said Thursday.
- U.S. drug regulators on Wednesday granted emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by biotechnology firm Novavax Inc., making it the fourth shot of its kind available in the country.
<July 13, 2022>
- Japan's new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday topped 90,000 for the first time since Feb. 17, as the country braces for another wave of infections driven this time by the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron, official data compiled by Kyodo News showed.
- Japan recorded more than 76,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, more than double from a week earlier and topping the 70,000 mark for the first time since March 3 amid signs the nation is undergoing a seventh wave of infections.
<July 12, 2022>
- Tokyo on Tuesday reported 11,511 new coronavirus infections, surpassing 10,000 for the first time in four months, the metropolitan government said.
<July 11, 2022>
- Macau on Monday shut down all its casinos for the first time in more than two years, Chinese state-run media reported, as the number of new infections with the novel coronavirus has been increasing recently.
- Japan "has no doubt entered" a seventh wave of coronavirus infections though there is currently no need for new movement restrictions, the head of a government COVID-19 experts panel told reporters on Monday.
- The Bank of Japan on Monday upgraded its view on seven of the nine regional economies, reflecting the diminishing negative impact of COVID-19 on private consumption even though supply bottlenecks persist.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - July 2~8
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)