An infectious disease expert is calling for stepping up measures against the new coronavirus in Tokyo.

Professor Atsuo Hamada at Tokyo Medical University spoke to NHK after at least 40 new people were confirmed to be infected with the virus in Japan's capital on Wednesday.

A Japanese government panel of experts will present its latest views on the country's measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The outline of the panel's views has been revealed in advance of a briefing that will take place on Thursday evening.

A Japanese government panel has proposed fresh quarantine measures for foreign visitors and returning Japanese travelers to control the coronavirus outbreak.

The head of the panel, Takaji Wakita, told reporters on Tuesday that the group had submitted the request to the health ministry.

Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have announced measures to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

The BOJ met on Monday, two days ahead of schedule. The central bank will increase its purchases of exchange-traded funds from the current 6 trillion yen to 12 trillion yen a year, and it will double its acquisition of real estate investment funds to 180 billion yen per year.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the government will implement a number of economic and fiscal policies to prop up the nation's economy.

He said they include the steady implementation of comprehensive stimulus measures worth 26 trillion yen, or about 250 billion dollars.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered a government task force to prepare for a potential surge in the number of people infected with the new coronavirus.

Abe told the task force on Sunday that the situation has entered a crucial phase after cases with unknown infection routes were reported in multiple regions of the country.

The rash of new cases has the Japanese government scrambling to make sure the virus doesn't spread any further.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, " We're setting up an expert panel consisting of front-line specialists on infectious diseases to strengthen measures."

The Japanese government has devised the first set of emergency measures to deal with the new coronavirus outbreak.

The government aims to have a system at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo that can significantly increase the number of samples tested at one time. It will also promote speedy tests at 83 public health institutes across Japan.

Japan is one of many countries that's implementing tighter border controls in a bid to keep infected travelers out.

Authorities are now denying entry to all foreign nationals who have recently visited Hubei Province.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called the spread of the new coronavirus an unprecedented crisis and told a government task force not to hesitate to take necessary measures against the outbreak.

Abe issued the instruction on Friday at a meeting of the task force set up to deal with the outbreak.

Japan's transport minister says he is stepping up measures against a possible outbreak of the latest coronavirus. Kazuyoshi Akaba pledged an all-out effort for the expected spike in visitors from China during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The government is urging airlines and cruise ships to distribute a "health card" to all those arriving from China. The card directs people to quarantine officers if they have come from Wuhan and have symptoms, or are taking medicine for pain.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed his ministers to ensure that more hygienic laboratories are able to conduct tests for the new coronavirus. Only one facility in Japan is carrying out such tests at present.

Abe gave the instruction on Friday morning at a meeting of relevant ministers, including health minister Katsunobu Kato and foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

A quarantine station at Chubu international airport in central Japan is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus linked to a pneumonia outbreak in China.

The airport in Aichi Prefecture has five direct flights per week to and from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where an outbreak of pneumonia first emerged last month.