Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have sent online messages of encouragement to the elderly in Tokyo and the southwestern prefecture of Oita.

The Emperor and Empress were at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday. They watched a group in Oita Prefecture helping the elderly maintain good health conditions and also monitored senior citizens at a human resources center in Tokyo.

The governor of Tokyo has called on residents to refrain from traveling to other prefectures during the summer holiday season, amid the continued rise in numbers of coronavirus infections in the capital.

Koike Yuriko told reporters on Thursday that people should remain on heightened alert, as the situation in Tokyo is still extremely severe.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko has said whether the coronavirus can be contained will depend on how people behave after a state of emergency is declared, and urged citizens to stay at home.

Koike made the comment during a press conference on Monday evening, when she called for unity among Tokyoites to overcome the difficulties.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the government will evacuate nationals who want to leave the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak.

Abe told reporters on Sunday that the government worked through the weekend to determine whether citizens want to leave Wuhan, and to examine ways to take them out of the city, which is under lockdown.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi says the ministry will swiftly raise the infectious disease warning for China's Hubei Province to the second-highest level of three. Hubei is home to the city of Wuhan, where infections of the new strain of coronavirus are centered.

Motegi told reporters on Friday that the ministry will urge Japanese citizens to refrain from traveling to Hubei Province.