Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
<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.
<July 7, 2022>
- Japan confirmed 47,977 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, twice the number a week earlier and exceeding the 40,000 mark for the second day, as the country braces for a seventh wave of coronavirus infections amid a rebound.
<July 6, 2022>
- Newly confirmed COVID-19 cases nearly doubled from a week earlier to over 45,000 in Japan on Wednesday, exceeding the 40,000 mark for the first time since May 18 as the nation's coronavirus infections continue to rebound.
<July 5, 2022>
- Tokyo confirmed 5,302 daily COVID-19 cases Tuesday, exceeding the 5,000 mark for the first time since April 28, as the capital saw the number of infections more than double from a week earlier.
<July 1, 2022>
- Japan's government on Friday eased its travel warning over the coronavirus pandemic for 34 countries, including China, South Korea and India, and is no longer requesting that residents in Japan refrain from nonessential trips to those nations.
- North Korea on Friday claimed the cause of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, saying people who had touched "alien things" near the border with South Korea had been first infected with the novel coronavirus.
- The average land price in Japan as of Jan. 1 was up 0.5 percent from a year earlier, the National Tax Agency said Friday, rebounding from a fall in 2021 as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
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)