Japan's minister in charge of coronavirus response says he will work closely with relevant governors on the "Go To Travel" campaign. He says it is likely the campaign would extend its exclusion of Sapporo and Osaka, cities with many coronavirus cases.

Nishimura Yasutoshi spoke to reporters on Friday.

The annual Sapporo Snow Festival scheduled for January and February is expected to forgo its usual displays of snow and ice sculptures, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sapporo Mayor Akimoto Katsuhiro told reporters on Thursday that city officials have judged it would be difficult to hold the event in the usual style.

The governor of Hokkaido and the mayor of Sapporo have issued a joint emergency declaration as coronavirus infections have started to increase again.

Governor Suzuki Naomichi told Mayor Akimoto Katsuhiro in Sapporo City on Sunday that newly confirmed cases in the northern prefecture have hit double digits for five days in a row. Suzuki said Hokkaido may be experiencing a second wave of infections.

The declaration of a coronavirus emergency in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido has brought an abrupt halt to public activities. Streets are quiet in the prefectural capital Sapporo, one day after the measure came into effect.

Governor Naomichi Suzuki on Friday declared the three-week emergency period through March 19. He urged residents to refrain from going out over this weekend.

A man in his 40s has tested positive for the virus in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo. That's the 88th case of infection outside passengers and crew from the cruise ship Diamond Princess.

Earlier, authorities in the southwestern city of Fukuoka said a man in his 60s had also tested positive. He has not been abroad recently and is the first confirmed case in the Kyushu region.