Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has instructed his ministers to swiftly implement the economic measures in the supplementary budget of around 29 trillion yen, or over 210 billion dollars.

The government convened a task force on Tuesday to comprehensively help people's livelihoods following the Diet's passage of the second extra budget last week.

Tokyo's governor says she prioritized both preventing coronavirus infections and maintaining social and economic activity in asking some people to refrain from receiving domestic tourism campaign benefits.

On Tuesday, Koike Yuriko asked Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide to either exclude Tokyo from the government's Go To Travel campaign program or ask people to refrain from using it for travel to and from the capital. As a result, the two agreed to ask people aged 65 or older and those with underlying conditions to refrain from using the program for such travel.

Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide is seeking to strengthen cooperation with China in the economic field to improve relations. He also wants China to act positively on maritime and security issues around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Japan controls the islands. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. China and Taiwan claim them.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo says the government will carry out economic and fiscal reforms as the coronavirus outbreak is expected to further strain state finances.

Abe made the pledge after the Cabinet Office presented its latest projections at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Friday.

Japan's Cabinet has approved emergency economic measures of record proportions to deal with the impact of the coronavirus. The package is worth about 108 trillion yen, or one trillion dollars. The government plans to issue additional bonds to help fund the spending.

Also included is a plan to secure enough of the flu drug Avigan by the end of next March to potentially treat up to two million people infected with the new coronavirus.

Senior officials from Japan and Russia have held talks regarding joint economic activities on four Russian-controlled islands claimed by Japan.

They met in Moscow Wednesday for more than four hours. Japan sent officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, economy and the environment, as well as from tourism and fishery agencies.