Asian View
Key words : variant oversea monitoring
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210120_02/
The Japanese government is on a high alert after cases of a purportedly more contagious variant of the coronavirus were found in people with no recent history of overseas travel.
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide held an online meeting on Tuesday with the governors of seven prefectures that were added to a coronavirus state of emergency last week.
Suga asked them to persuade younger people to take measures to avoid infection. They also agreed to join hands in securing hospital beds for coronavirus patients.
The nationwide death toll exceeded 100 and hit a record high on Tuesday, despite the state of emergency.
Japan's health ministry announced on Monday that three people in Shizuoka Prefecture have tested positive for the virus variant prevalent in Britain.
Public health officials suspect that they contracted the variant through community-acquired infections since they have no recent history of overseas travel and no known contact with people infected inside Japan.
The government plans to work with local authorities to identify the infection routes and step up monitoring to stop the variant from spreading .
Authorities are also working on a schedule for a vaccine rollout. It considers prioritizing healthcare workers and senior citizens, and plans to start vaccinating the rest of the population from around May at the earliest.
There is a call within the government to make use of the national system of individual ID numbers to create a database for the vaccination program. But others say it would be technically difficult.
Key words : china new strain
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210119_16/
China has confirmed at least four cases of infection with new strains of the coronavirus.
State-run media report that a student who returned to Shanghai from Britain in mid-December was the first confirmed case of infection with a new variant.
The report says the other cases were people in Guangdong and Shandong provinces who had returned from Britain and South Africa.
The central government and local authorities are taking stronger measures to prevent the variants from entering the country.
In Beijing, the quarantine period for people arriving from other countries has been extended to 21 days from 14 days. People are required to report their health conditions for another seven days.
China's health authorities say vaccines developed by domestic pharmaceutical companies are effective against the variants and they are preparing mass inoculation programs.
Key words : tokyo robot
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210120_16/
A pop-up cafe kiosk staffed only by a robot is being tested near Tokyo amid increasing focus on avoiding face-to-face service during the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-day test, which started on Monday, is part of a project to support entrepreneurs, run by the city of Tsukuba, northeast of the capital.
When a customer orders using a tablet computer, coffee is dispensed into a cup and the robotic arm transfers it to the counter. A venture business in the city developed the robot.
A representative of the company, Higuchi Shota, says he hopes these contactless services will be adopted for a variety of uses to benefit society as it confronts the pandemic.
The venture company uses low-cost parts to make the robot affordable in many areas such as food manufacturing and agriculture. It hopes the system will also help ease labor shortages.
Key words : biden view point two experts
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20210106133708676/
Joe Biden will be inaugurated as US president on January 20th. One of his priorities will be to deal with Washington's tangled relationship with China. The US economic future remains unclear in light of the coronavirus pandemic. China, by contrast, continues to show signs of recovery. We spoke with two China experts who offer opposing viewpoints on whether the US and China can find common ground.
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