Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has started selling a coronavirus testing kit for use by companies and organizations in Tokyo and the four neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and Ibaraki.
The firm says the kit, launched on Monday, is being offered as a "risk assessment option to those who show no specific symptoms but are concerned about the spread of the virus."
The Japanese government has decided to expand its supplementary budget for the current fiscal year that began April 1 by more than 80 billion dollars. The move is to help fund cash handouts aimed at easing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The supplementary budget now comes to more than 230 billion dollars. It will partly fund an emergency economic package worth about 1.1 trillion dollars.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan stood at 10,810 as of 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
The tally includes people who were found to be positive during airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials, and individuals who returned to Japan on chartered planes.
An earthquake struck the Tohoku region of northern Japan at around 5:39 a.m. on Monday, local time.
It had an estimated magnitude of 6.1. The focus was off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at a depth of 50 kilometers. Officials say there is no risk of tsunami.
The hometown of iconic Japanese comedian Shimura Ken, who passed away after contracting the new coronavirus, has begun accepting messages on its website.
Shimura died in March at the age of 70. He became a TV star in the 1970s when he joined a comedy group called The Drifters, which was immensely popular in Japan.
A growing number of people who have lost, or will likely lose their jobs amid the coronavirus outbreak in Japan, have received offers to perform illegal work through social media.
The labor ministry says 1,473 people had lost their jobs, or faced the prospect of losing their jobs, for the roughly two months through April 6. The ministry cites deteriorating corporate performance as one of the reasons.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan exceeded 10,500 on Sunday after 369 new cases were detected nationwide.
The tally now stands at 10,802, including people who were found to be positive during airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials, and individuals who returned to Japan on chartered planes.
About 120 Russians who had been stuck in Japan amid the spread of the coronavirus have left for their country on a Russian government chartered plane.
The plane arrived at Narita Airport near Tokyo on Sunday and left for the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in the afternoon, carrying about 120 people.
McDonald's Japan says it will close the dining areas of its restaurants in 13 prefectures that are under the highest alert for the coronavirus pandemic.
The fast food chain operator says eat-in service will be suspended from Monday to May 6 at more than 1,900 outlets in the prefectures that include Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.
Health authorities in Japan say they confirmed four new cases of coronavirus infection on Sunday morning, bringing the national total to 10,437. The figure includes people found to be positive during airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials, and individuals who returned to Japan on chartered planes.
If the 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship are included, the total is 11,149.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan surpassed 10,000 on Saturday after 584 new cases were detected nationwide.
The tally now stands at 10,433, including people determined to be positive during airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials, and individuals who returned to Japan on chartered planes.
Two major airline companies in Japan say they will use the cabin area of their passenger planes to transport medical supplies from overseas amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The drop in the number of travelers because of the virus has forced Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to cancel 90 percent of their international flights.
The office of iconic Japanese comedian Shimura Ken is uploading his vintage comedy skits on YouTube to raise fund to support health care workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Shimura died after contracting the coronavirus in March at the age of 70.
Some of the cloth masks provided by the Japanese government to pregnant women have been found defective.
The government began sending masks, a total of 500,000, to pregnant women in the country on April 14 before it began sending two each to all households on Friday.