Japanese researchers say they think the coronavirus continued to spread undetected in Japan after the outbreak was thought to have been contained in May.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases earlier this week released the outcome of its detailed genetic analysis of the coronavirus. The samples were taken from people who contracted the virus in Japan to assess how it had spread across the country.
Researchers in Japan say the death rate of hospitalized coronavirus patients was 7.5 percent in the country. This is about one third of the COVID-19 death rates reported in Britain and the United States.
The National Center for Global Health and Medicine on Thursday released the result of its analysis on 2,638 coronavirus patients admitted to 227 hospitals nationwide between March and early July.
Experts advising Japan's government on the coronavirus plan to set up a series of indexes to help local authorities gauge the spread of the outbreak in their regions.
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said on Thursday that unlike in April, it is not currently necessary to declare a state of emergency.
Japan continued to experience a sweltering summer heat wave on Thursday with daytime highs of over 35 degrees Celsius recorded in many areas.
The Meteorological Agency says a high pressure system covering vast areas from western through northeastern Japan, combined with an influx of warm air, is bringing clear skies and high temperatures to the archipelago.
Japan's health ministry and the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca are expected to reach an agreement shortly on the delivery of more than 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.
The vaccine is being developed jointly by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. It's already in the final stage of clinical trials in Brazil and elsewhere.
The Japanese government has agreed to provide Bangladesh with loans worth up to 330 million dollars for the Southwestern Asian nation's coronavirus response.
Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, participated in a teleconference call on Wednesday. They confirmed that they have reached a deal to work together in the fight against the virus.
The foreign chiefs of Japan and Britain have agreed to work together to respond to the coronavirus and the situation in Hong Kong.
Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu met his British counterpart Dominic Raab in London on Wednesday. They talked for about two hours.
The head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, has urged Japan to launch discussions on whether to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to the adoption of the treaty.
Japanese executives are reluctant to spend money on plant and equipment due to the coronavirus pandemic. A survey shows growth in planned capital investment at its lowest in 11 years.
Nearly 1,800 major firms responded to the annual poll taken in May and June by the Development Bank of Japan.
More than 1,200 new cases of coronavirus infections were reported across Japan on Tuesday. In the past month, the number of people being treated in hospitals has surged more than five times.
Tokyo has the most infections. A total of 309 were reported on Tuesday--- the 8th straight day the capital's tally topped the 200 mark.
Health officials say the number of coronavirus patients receiving treatment at hospitals across Japan has shot up more than five-fold in the space of just one month.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said on Tuesday that 4,034 in-patients were in hospital for treatment as of July 29. This compared to 696 in-patients four weeks earlier, on July 1.
Japan's government says it will keep all options open, in response to South Korea's moves to sell off the assets of a Japanese firm due to a wartime labor lawsuit.
A South Korean court said that as of Tuesday, legal procedures to notify the Japanese side of the asset seizure order were deemed complete.
Authorities in Japan are racing to contain a surge in coronavirus infections, ahead of upcoming summer holidays. Tokyo remains the major hotspot. Metropolitan government officials confirmed 258 new cases in the capital on Monday.
It's the seventh consecutive day with more than 200 infections. Across the country, the total number of infections has topped 40,000.
Students in Japan are having a much shorter summer break this year to make up for classes that were cancelled in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While August is usually a month off for students, the education ministry says more than 1,700 boards of education across the country plan to shorten summer holidays to offset the lost time.