Japan's health ministry is planning to allow dentists to carry out tests for the coronavirus in an effort to increase testing capacity.

The ministry presented the plan at an expert panel meeting on Sunday.

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 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.

The spread of the coronavirus is disrupting charity activities to help homeless people in Japan.

As the state of emergency persists, more people are losing their jobs. Some found themselves with no place to stay when Internet cafes were closed.

Mobile phone data in Japan suggests people in major cities are largely complying with the government's request that they stay home.

Telecoms company NTT Docomo has released anonymous tracking data. It shows that under the nationwide state of emergency, average outings in major cities on Saturday declined compared with the period between mid-January and mid-February.

Japanese government officials increasingly share the opinion that it will be difficult to fully lift the state of emergency in early May. Medical experts say infections are not slowing as they expected.

The government declared the state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka, and five other prefectures on April 7. It expanded the declaration nationwide on April 16.

In a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, authorities around Japan are pleading for residents to refrain from going out ahead of one of the country's biggest holiday periods. In Tokyo, the metropolitan government has dubbed the 12-day period through May 6, "stay-at-home week."

Shinkansen bullet trains are usually crowded ahead of the spring holiday. But some trains that left Tokyo on Saturday had no passengers in the non-reserved cars. Officials from Japan Railway say the occupancy rate for non-reserved seats on the Tokaido Shinkansen line was below 10 percent as of Saturday afternoon.

Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi canceled a news conference and worked from home on Saturday as an official of the Cabinet Secretariat was found to have contracted the new coronavirus.

The government said on Friday that the man in his 40's is a member of the taskforce launched last month to deal with the pandemic.

Officials in Nagasaki, western Japan, have confirmed nearly 60 more coronavirus infections among the crew of a cruise ship docked at a port in the prefecture.

That brings the total number of cases on the vessel to almost 150.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is calling on people to stay at home from Saturday through May 6 to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The authorities designated the 12-day period, which includes Japan's "Golden Week" spring holidays, as "stay-home week."

An NHK survey has found that nearly 10 percent of people infected with the coronavirus in Japan are believed to have contracted the pathogen inside hospitals and other medical institutions.

As of Tuesday, the total of confirmed and suspected cases of hospital infections stood at 1,086, across 60 medical institutions nationwide.

The Japanese government is moving a step closer to the introduction of antibody tests that would identify people who have been infected with the new coronavirus.

Health minister Kato Katsunobu said on Friday his ministry has begun checking the performance of several test kits that could be used to see the existence of coronavirus antibodies in blood samples.

Officials in Nagasaki, western Japan, have confirmed 43 more coronavirus infections among the crew of a cruise ship docked at a port in the prefecture. The total number of cases on the vessel has reached 91.

Tests are being carried out on all 623 crew members of the Italian-registered Costa Atlantica. The ship was sent to a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard for repairs.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Japan stood at 12,480 on Friday.

The tally includes people tested at airport quarantine stations, health ministry officials, quarantine officers and individuals who returned to Japan from China on government-chartered planes.

Two suppliers of cloth masks being sent by the Japanese government to all households say they will recall undistributed items.

Pharmaceutical maker Kowa and trading house Itochu made the announcement following complaints about masks that have already been sent. Many recipients say the masks were stained or contaminated with human hair and dust.