Rising concerns over the spread of the coronavirus are forcing hundreds of schools in Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido to close for about a week.

The closure applies to more than 1,600 public elementary, junior high and special needs schools. The majority cancelled classes from Thursday.

NHK has learned that the number of people in Japan who tested positive for the new coronavirus had risen to 894 as of Thursday morning.

Of the total, 175 are people who were infected in Japan or tourists from China, 705 are passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 14 had returned from China on chartered flights.

The Japanese government is pressing the pause button on a variety of sport and cultural events to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Nearly 900 people have been confirmed infected. More than 700 of those cases emerged in a quarantined cruise ship docked near Tokyo.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday, "Now is the crucial time to contain the spread of the virus at an early date."

Officials of Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, say a woman in her 40s, who had been treated for symptoms of the new coronavirus and left hospital early this month, has again tested positive.

The woman is a tour guide living in the city of Osaka.

The organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has stressed it has not started discussions on whether to suspend or postpone the Games due to the ongoing new coronavirus outbreak.

Committee Director General Toshiro Muto told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday that the basic policy is to prepare for a safe Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed understanding of a plan to release diluted contaminated water containing tritium and other radioactive substances from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday visited the plant in northeastern Japan for the first time. He received a briefing from officials of Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant operator, on progress in the decommissioning process.

Japan's heath ministry says a resident of Tokyo in his 80s died of pneumonia on Wednesday after contracting the new coronavirus.

It is the seventh confirmed case of infection in Japan that resulted in death. Four were passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

A Japanese district court has found it unconstitutional to have held a trial decades ago for a man who was declared a patient for leprosy, or Hansen's disease, at isolation facilities.

The man was charged with a murder, and his trial was held at a "special court" in the 1950s. He was sentenced to death, and executed in 1962 at the age of 40.

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer has begun its mission in the Middle East.

The Takanami left Japan on February 2. On Wednesday, it began intelligence-gathering operations to protect Japan-linked ships sailing through the Gulf of Oman and the northern part of the Arabian Sea.

The Japanese government is stepping up its protective measures, with a proposed pause on large public gatherings.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suggested that major sport, cultural and other events should be cancelled, delayed or scaled down for about two weeks.

Japan claims an International Olympic Committee member's mention of the possibility of canceling the Tokyo Olympic Games because of the coronavirus outbreak was not an official comment, and stresses it will continue preparations for the games.

IOC member Dick Pound said during an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday that the decision of whether the Games will go ahead could be put off until late May.

Japanese labor ministry officials say they've been inundated by calls from businesses seeking advice about how to respond to the coronavirus outbreak since launching a consultation service almost two weeks ago.

The officials say they've had about 800 inquiries from firms in the manufacturing, tourism, hospitality and other sectors. They say some companies want to know if they can get financial support if their businesses take a hit.

Japan's nuclear regulator has officially approved an assessment of a nuclear reactor in an area devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority compiled an assessment that allows Tohoku Electric Power Company to restart its No.2 reactor at the Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suggested that major sporting, cultural and other events should be canceled, delayed or scaled down for about two weeks amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

Abe was speaking at a government task force meeting at the prime minister's office on Wednesday.