Tokyo officials reported 72 new coronavirus cases on Sunday. It is the first time in about two weeks that the number of infections fell below 100 in the Japanese capital.

Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, health and welfare minister Kato Katsunobu and others were briefed at a coronavirus taskforce meeting that the number of new cases of infection has been decreasing.

Significantly fewer people than last weekend were seen in the coastal Shonan Area of Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, on Saturday.

Despite calls to stay home, roads and beaches were packed with visitors including surfers last Sunday. The crowds prompted the prefectural government and the City of Fujisawa to repeatedly urge people not to visit.

Two Tokyo men in their 80's, who were told by doctors to stay at home despite having developed fevers, were posthumously found to have contracted coronavirus.

One of them died on April 17th after he was found squatting on a street in Katsushika Ward and rushed to hospital.

Yamagata Prefecture in northern Japan has launched its own anti-coronavirus measures targeting people coming from other prefectures.

Local officials on Saturday began checking temperatures of visitors at seven locations, including a key train station, an airport and a parking area near the border with Miyagi Prefecture.

Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of the deadly train accident that killed 107 people in the western Japanese city of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

This year the annual memorial service was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, but bereaved families still mourned the victims at the accident site and in their homes.

Japan's government plans to investigate reports that many hospitals are refusing to admit people suspected of having the coronavirus.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency will survey 52 fire departments in Tokyo and other big cities. The survey will ask them how many times their ambulances have been turned away by four or more hospitals.

A group of doctors in Japan is set to begin a clinical trial of a blood plasma treatment for the coronavirus.

The group from the National Center for Global Health and Medicine was given an official go-ahead by the center's ethics committee on Thursday.

Japan's government says it's still cautious about the country's coronavirus outbreak, despite a recent drop in new infections in the capital.

Tuesday marks three weeks since the government declared a state of emergency.

The number of newly confirmed coronavirus infections in Tokyo fell below 100 on Monday for the second straight day.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials say there were 39. This is the first time since late March that there have been fewer than 40.

The Bank of Japan has unveiled a package of additional measures to stimulate the economy and help companies hit hard by the coronavirus.

Policymakers held a one-day session on Monday, instead of their regular two-day meeting, to deal with the urgent situation.

The Japanese government has decided to deny the entry of foreign nationals from an additional 14 countries to step up its coronavirus measures at ports of entry.

The government made the decision at a taskforce meeting on Monday. It will ban the entry of non-Japanese citizens who have been in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Djibouti, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and Nevis, and Barbados within 14 days before their arrival in Japan. The ban will take effect on Wednesday.

The Japanese government has submitted to the Diet a supplementary budget plan aimed at easing the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The government on Monday submitted the bill worth more than 230 billion dollars for the fiscal year that began on April 1. It will partly fund an emergency economic package worth 1.1 trillion dollars.

Major Japanese cities have seen sharp declines in visitor numbers amid the nationwide state of emergency.

Telecom company NTT Docomo has released anonymous tracking data for Japan's 47 prefectures.

Officials in Nagasaki Prefecture dealing with a coronavirus outbreak on a cruise ship docked there are working to send crew members who tested negative back to their home countries.

The Italian-registered Costa Atlantica is at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard for repairs. Of the 623 crew members, 148 were confirmed to have the virus as of Saturday.