Japan's foreign ministry has issued a travel alert for areas in South Korea that are reporting infections of the new coronavirus.

People without necessary or urgent matters are advised to stay away from Daegu City and Cheongdo County in North Gyeongsang Province.

National and other public universities in Japan have begun staging their entrance exams, with precautions taken against the new coronavirus.

The education ministry says nearly 440,000 people have applied for the exams, down about 30,000 from last year.

Japan's industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama says he will call on the business sector to actively introduce staggered working hours and telework to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

The comment came ahead of the government's official announcement of its basic policies against the outbreak.

A fourth passenger from the cruise ship Diamond Princess docked at the port of Yokohama has died from the new coronavirus.

Sources close to the matter say the octogenarian was an inpatient.

Japan's education minister says the government has asked education boards with reported coronavirus cases to temporarily close schools.

Koichi Hagiuda told reporters on Tuesday that education boards of Hokkaido in northern Japan and Chiba City near Tokyo have been told to take this preventive measure.

Japan plans to continue preparing for Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the country, even though one of China's key political events has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

China's decision to put off the annual National People's Congress has raised doubts about Xi's planned visit to Japan.

Japan's government has drafted a basic policy on the coronavirus in a bid to stem the number of new cases.

The draft plan is based on discussions by a group of experts on Monday. The government plans an official announcement on Tuesday.

Experts on a government panel have agreed on the need to prevent clusters of the new coronavirus in Japan from expanding further.

The view comes as the Japanese government is set to compile comprehensive guidelines to contain the spread of the virus on Tuesday.

Japan's finance minister Taro Aso has warned his G20 counterparts about digital currency, saying more work is needed before any issuance.

In a news conference after the meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Saudi Arabia, Aso said regulations on digital currency should be drawn up to avoid potential risks such as money laundering.

Japanese carmaker, Toyota Motor, has resumed operations at a plant in Chengdu, China.

Monday's restart came as the facility secured sufficient workers and ensured its supply chain for components.

Customers of an online bank and three regional banks have had problems using their services on Sunday.

SBI Sumishin Net Bank said most of its online banking functions stopped working around 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Japan's health ministry will issue guidance for nursing homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus among the elderly, whose symptoms could get serious if infected.

The ministry plans to notify local governments of the new measures as early as Monday.

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games are under pressure to come up with clear guidelines on how to deal with the new coronavirus infection.

The Olympic flame will start making its way across Japan in late March. The organizers say it's not possible to push that date back.

Japan's health ministry says a third passenger from the quarantined Diamond Princess has died. The cause of death was pneumonia.

The ministry did not disclose whether the man in his 80s had been infected with the new coronavirus.