The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan surpassed 10,000 on Saturday after 582 new cases were detected nationwide.
The tally now stands at 10,431, including people determined to be positive during airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials, and individuals who returned to Japan on chartered planes.
About 30 Russian nationals stranded at Tokyo's Haneda Airport for the past 10 days are expected to return home on a chartered plane as early as Sunday.
Regular international flights to and from Russia have been suspended since March 27 due to the spread of the coronavirus. About 400 Russians who were visiting Japan on business or for sightseeing remain stranded in the country.
Four people who are being held at a police station in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus on Saturday, in addition to two others who tested positive earlier this month. A fifth man who has since been released was also confirmed to be infected.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department says the five men are aged between their 20s and 60s.
Japan's cumulative total of confirmed infections with the coronavirus surpassed 10,000 on Saturday.
The figure now stands at 10,098, excluding cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo earlier this year.
City streets and tourist hot spots in Japan are quiet on the first weekend since a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak was expanded nationwide.
The famous sand dunes of Tottori Prefecture, in western Japan, were largely free of people on Saturday.
NHK has learned that a company in western Japan is planning to increase production of protective face shields and other equipment for medical workers in the fight against the new coronavirus.
Yamamoto Kogaku, based in Higashi-Osaka City, made the decision to at the request of the government. The firm is a major supplier of protective eyewear for industrial use.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan increased to 9,849 on Friday, when 555 new cases were reported nationwide. The figure includes people determined to be positive during airport quarantine checks, health ministry officials, and individuals who returned to Japan on chartered planes.
The 712 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship brings the total to 10,561.
The head of an expert panel advising the Japanese government says it's too early to assess whether nationwide measures against the coronavirus outbreak are having the desired effect.
Omi Shigeru spoke to reporters at a news conference on Friday held by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
An NHK survey has found that people in Tokyo who were suspected of contracting the coronavirus have had to wait for up to a week before they were able to get tested for it.
NHK asked public health centers in the 23 Tokyo wards about how long it took for possible virus carriers to receive PCR tests after health officials concluded that they had to be tested.
Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has repeated his call for people to avoid travel during the upcoming holidays, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus from urban to rural areas.
Abe was speaking at a news conference on Friday, one day after a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak was expanded nationwide. The declaration had covered Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures.
Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko reported 201 new cases of coronavirus infection in the city on Friday.
It's the first time the daily figure has topped 200. The total number of infections in Tokyo now stands at 2,796.
Japan's prefectural leaders want the central government to take steps to discourage people from traveling to other prefectures.
About 30 governors took part in an emergency online meeting of the National Governors' Association on Friday. The central government expanded the state of emergency for the coronavirus outbreak to the entire country on Thursday.
The Tokyo metropolitan government has set up a phone consultation center to provide information on the coronavirus in 14 languages. Officials say they want to give needed support to respond to growing anxiety among foreigners living under the state of emergency.
The metropolitan government began the service from Friday.
The Japanese government is hoping to limit the movement of people -- and the spread of the coronavirus -- during the spring holidays that begin at the end of this month. Many of Japan's biggest cities have been under a state of emergency for more than a week. It has now been expanded nationwide.
The government began by targeting the seven prefectures most endangered by the virus. But with infections on the rise, the central government is now encouraging every area to take stricter measures.