Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:
<Oct. 27, 2022>
- Qatar will no longer require visitors to present evidence of a negative COVID-19 test as part of traveling to the country, the government said Wednesday, ahead of hosting the soccer World Cup finals starting next month.
<Oct. 26, 2022>
- Tokyo's famous Shibuya district is bracing for the return of large crowds of Halloween partygoers this weekend following the removal of coronavirus restrictions and Japan fully reopening its borders to independent foreign tourists.
- U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot designed to provide increased protection against the dominant Omicron variant, and called for the public to do the same.
<Oct. 25, 2022>
- Japan on Tuesday began coronavirus vaccinations for children aged six months to four years at a hospital in Tokyo, expanding the eligibility criteria for inoculation to almost all age groups.
<Oct. 24, 2022>
- China's economy in the July-September period expanded 3.9 percent from a year earlier, with growth gathering pace from the previous quarter following the end of a two-month lockdown in Shanghai, official data showed Monday.
<Oct. 22, 2022>
- The physical fitness levels of most age groups in Japan declined in fiscal 2021 compared with two years earlier, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, a recent government survey showed.
<Oct. 20, 2022>
- The number of weekly COVID-19 cases in Japan has risen for the first time in about two months, with increases recorded in all 47 prefectures except Okinawa, according to health ministry data compiled Thursday.
<Oct. 19, 2022>
- The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in September increased 11.7-fold from a year earlier to 206,500, government data showed Wednesday, with the figure likely to jump in the coming months after Japan removed almost all its COVID-19 entry restrictions earlier this month.
- The Japanese government on Wednesday eased its travel warning over the coronavirus pandemic for 76 countries and areas, such as Australia and Taiwan, no longer requesting that residents in Japan refrain from nonessential trips to any country.
<Oct. 16, 2022>
- The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan rose 6.9 percent in the April-September period from a year earlier to 3,141 for the first increase in three years, according to a survey by a credit research company.
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Oct. 15~21
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)