The death toll from the new strain of coronavirus in China has now topped 360.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says officials have started developing test kits to detect the new coronavirus in an effort to find infections more swiftly.
The benchmark stock indices in Shanghai and Shenzhen ended sharply lower on the first day of trading after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20200203200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : death toll topped 360
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_12/
The death toll from the new strain of coronavirus in China has now topped 360. There are also growing concerns over the impact the outbreak will have on the global economy. On Monday, investors in the Chinese stock market will be paying close attention as it reopens after the extended Lunar New Year holiday.
Chinese health authorities say the virus has claimed 361 lives, officially surpassing the number of deaths in China from the 2003 SARS outbreak.
They also report more than 17,000 people have been infected in mainland China.
Around the world, the number of cases has reached 178. Infections have now been confirmed in 26 countries and territories. The Philippines has reported the first death outside China.
US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien told CBS that the US has offered to send experts in the health field, including medical care, to China.
The resumption of business activity in China is being delayed, with many businesses closed and hours shortened.
Municipalities across the country, including Shanghai and Guangdong, have asked many companies to extend their holidays to next Monday or later.
The measure will exempt people who provide vital services for citizen's daily lives. They include those working in sectors such as electricity, water, medicine and supermarkets.
Industries are also bracing for a potentially bumpy ride.
There is concern that the postponement will affect foreign companies operating in China as well, including Japanese firms, which have about 32,000 outlets and plants in total around the country.
An industrial district in Guangzhou in Guangdong Province was deserted on Sunday. The coastal regions, home to several automakers and smart phone manufacturers, are expected to have an impact on the supply chains of parts and exports of products, hitting businesses around the globe.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange will reopen at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. It had previously planned to do so last Friday.
And in New York, worries about the impact the viral outbreak will have on the global economy sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging to a record low for the year on Friday. The index lost about 600 points from the previous day.
China's central bank says it will inject about 173.8 billion dollars into the financial markets on Monday.
It's part of an effort by the People's Bank of China to keep companies afloat by increasing the amount of money banks can lend.
Key words : to cope with new hospital
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_23/
On China's mainland, the battle to stem the coronavirus outbreak from spreading continues. Chinese health authorities say the virus has claimed 361 lives, officially surpassing the number of deaths in China from the 2003 SARS outbreak.
Authorities also report more than 17,000 people have been infected on the mainland.
To cope with the increasing numbers of infections, a new hospital was built within days in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The hospital was handed over to medical staff of the Chinese military on Sunday.
But there is still a shortage of doctors and medical facilities in the area.
Meanwhile, security is tight in cities across China, especially places where people gather such as subway stations and entrances of buildings. Body temperatures are being tested as one measure of protection.
Around the world, the number of cases has reached 179. Infections have now been confirmed in 26 countries and regions. The Philippines has reported the first death outside mainland China.
US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien told CBS that the US has offered to send experts in the health field and medical care staff to China.
He added that Beijing had not responded yet but that US will continue to cooperate with China.
Key words : 18 in singapore 15 each
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_07/
There are now 179 confirmed cases of people infected with the new coronavirus in 26 countries and territories outside of mainland China.
There are 20 confirmed cases in Japan, 19 in Thailand, 18 in Singapore, 15 each in South Korea and Hong Kong, 12 in Australia, 10 each in Taiwan and Germany, eight each in Malaysia, Macao and Vietnam, and seven in the United States.
Also there are six confirmed cases in France, five in the United Arab Emirates, and two each in Canada, Italy, Britain, Russia, India, and the Philippines.
Nepal, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Finland, Sweden, and Spain have reported one each.
Key words : United State offer
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_08/
The United States has offered to send China medical and public health experts to assist with the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said on a CBS television program on Sunday, "The Chinese have been more transparent certainly than in past crises and we appreciate that."
He said that the US had offered to send US medical and public health professionals.
He added that Beijing had not responded yet but the US will continue to cooperate with China.
The US Defense Department announced on Saturday that it is prepared to house 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined upon arrival from overseas due to the new coronavirus.
It says US military bases and training facilities in places such as California and Colorado are available.
Key words : Abe test kit
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_15/
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says officials have started developing test kits to detect the new coronavirus in an effort to find infections more swiftly.
Abe told the Lower House budget committee on Monday that domestic inspections will be expanded to stop the spread of the virus.
He said officials are working to build a framework that would allow private firms to carry out tests for the virus in addition to public institutes.
Abe said it is important to bolster the government's system for dealing with infectious diseases and its crisis management system is constantly being reviewed.
The prime minister stressed that he will put people's lives and health first and will promptly implement the necessary measures to deal with the situation that is changing day by day.
Key words : earlier tested
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_27/
A man who earlier tested positive for the new coronavirus despite showing no apparent signs of the virus is now displaying symptoms, including a fever.
The man in his 40s returned to Japan last Wednesday on a government-chartered jet from Wuhan, the Chinese epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
He showed no symptoms upon arrival, but a medical check showed he was infected.
The Japanese health ministry made the disclosure on Monday regarding the man's development of symptoms. He has been hospitalized in Chiba, near Tokyo.
Officials say it is the first time that a person in Japan has developed symptoms after being asymptomatic.
More than 560 people returned to Japan on government-chartered flights. Eight were infected.
Officials say those people will remain in quarantine for up to two weeks at government accommodation facilities.
Key words : tourism industry will be canceled
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_26/
A Japanese tourism industry body estimates that package tours involving at least 400,000 Chinese tourists will be canceled due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The Japan Association of Travel Agents says its member agencies prepared tourist visa application papers for Chinese tourists who were scheduled to visit Japan between January 27 and March 31. It says the number of applications reached around 400,000.
The association suggests almost all of them are likely to be canceled because Chinese travel agents suspended overseas package tours from January 27 on the request of the Chinese government.
The figure announced does not include applications of groups arriving on cruise ships, individual tourists or those who plan to visit Japan on business. So, the total number of cancellations is estimated to be larger.
The association says Chinese visitors to Japan in the first half of January far outnumbered those in the same period of last year, but that cancellations are now including individual tourists.
Key words : benchmark shanghai
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_41/
The benchmark stock indices in Shanghai and Shenzhen ended sharply lower on the first day of trading after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
Investors unloaded shares as the coronavirus continues to spread in China and elsewhere.
The Shanghai Composite finished 7.7 percent lower from the previous close on January 23, before the start of the holiday.
The key index in Shenzhen was down 8.4 percent.
Investors are increasingly worried about the impact of the virus on the global economy. Many factories and shops remain closed across China.
Local governments in major cities like Shanghai and provinces such as Guangdong have asked domestic and foreign firms to extend holidays to next Sunday.
A private think-tank projects first-quarter growth in China will drop to 4 percent from 6 percent the previous quarter.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Average closed at 22,971, down one percent from Friday's close. Analysts say many traders had already factored-in the tumble in China's markets.
They say investors are watching to see how a liquidity infusion by China's central bank will cushion the impact of the virus on the economy. The bank said that it would inject more than 170 billion dollars into the financial market on Monday.
Key words : economist
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_16/
Economists are forecasting that Japan's GDP shrank during the final 3 months of 2019 after the consumption tax hike hit the economy in October.
Ten research institutes have released their estimates for the October-to-December period ahead of the official figures.
All of the groups are predicting that Japan saw its first contraction in five quarters. The estimates range from an annualized minus 3.5 percent to minus 4.4 percent for the 3-month period.
They say storms and a warmer-than-usual winter also dented consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of Japan's GDP.
The analysts also cite sluggish exports and lower corporate investment on the back of a global economic downturn.
Some researchers are expressing concerns about the impact of the expanding coronavirus outbreak for the January-to-March period.
Key words : British Canada-style
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_18/
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to seek a Canada-style trade deal with the European Union that would open up markets but avoid EU regulations.
Johnson is expected to lay out his vision on future relations with the EU in a speech on Monday, his first since Britain left the bloc on Friday.
Johnson is likely to stress that the United Kingdom will be able to maintain the highest standards for social protection, the environment, and other policies without accepting EU rules.
The prime minister is expected to say that his country wants to abolish most tariffs, but will not be bound by EU regulations, citing the example of the free trade agreement that Canada signed with the bloc.
The British government hopes to conclude the negotiations for an EU deal before the transition period expires on December 31. The EU rules still apply during the period, which was set to avoid sudden changes.
The two sides are wide apart in many respects, and the EU believes it will be difficult to conclude a comprehensive trade agreement in only 11 months.
Key words : top official food
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_10/
Top officials of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization say pasture and croplands in eastern Africa have been damaged by the swarms of desert locust and that it could lead to a humanitarian crisis.
They say about 12 million people in the region including Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are at risk of being severely affected.
In Kenya, the outbreak is the worst infestation in 70 years. Video footage shows swarms of the pests covering the sky.
To combat the upsurge in severely affected areas, pesticide is being sprayed from the air.
The desert locust is so destructive that a small swarm covering one square kilometer can eat the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.
Experts say the situation can worsen with breeding activity.
FAO warns that the desert locust upsurge can threaten livelihoods and food security in the eastern part of Africa where many people make a living by farming.
Key words : Tokyo prosecutor
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_28/
Tokyo prosecutors have indicted a Japanese lawmaker for a second time on charges of accepting bribes involving casino resorts.
Tsukasa Akimoto was indicted on Monday along with his former secretary and three people linked to a Chinese firm called 500.com that sought to start casino business in Japan.
The prosecutors say the company provided Akimoto with 17,000 dollars' worth of travel expenses, tips he paid at casinos and luxury items when he traveled to Macao on a private jet in December 2017.
At that time, Akimoto was a state minister in charge of integrated resorts, which include casinos.
He also received about 18,500 dollars for giving a lecture at a symposium hosted by 500.com.
Sources say the former secretary told investigators that he withdrew money from the bank account of the lawmaker's support organization to pretend that the lawmaker paid the travel expenses.
He also reportedly said the payment for the lecture was initially set at 4,600 dollars but was quadrupled after Akimoto was appointed to the ministerial role, adding that he told the lawmaker about these developments.
Akimoto was already indicted last month for accepting bribes worth about 34,500 dollars from the Chinese firm.
His lawyer says the lawmaker categorically denies all charges.
Key words : Japanese runner
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_03/
A 43-year-old Japanese runner has set a new world record in the women's marathon, for visually-impaired athletes.
Misato Michishita finished the Beppu Oita Mainichi Marathon in the visually impaired category, with a time of two hours 54 minutes and 22 seconds.
The event was held on Sunday in Oita Prefecture, western Japan. Her time was one minute, 52 seconds faster than the previous world record she set in 2017.
After a slow start, Michishita took the lead with a faster pace than the previous world record. She geared up after the 25-kilometer mark, moving clear of the top group, and maintained a comfortable lead all the way to the finish line.
Michishita almost completely lost her eyesight due to a disease when she was a junior high school student. She won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.
Michishita was selected to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics this summer on an informal basis, after winning the World Para Athletics Marathon title last April in London.
Key words : Tokyo police
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200203_21/
Tokyo police have issued a new poster to inform foreign visitors about the 110 emergency phone number as part of an anti-terrorism campaign for the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics.
The poster features a classic ukiyoe woodblock print of a kabuki actor with glaring eyes.
A slogan in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese urges people to notify the police if they see anything suspicious.
A number of copies were put up at Shibuya Station and elsewhere in Tokyo on Monday. Police also distributed leaflets to passersby, and used the giant screen near the station to call for cooperation in preventing terrorism.
Police say many foreign visitors do not know that 110 is the number for making an emergency call. They say English and Chinese speakers are available at this number around the clock.
An official of the Metropolitan Police Department says they are stepping up their anti-terrorism efforts ahead of the Games and people, including foreign visitors, should immediately contact the police if they see a suspicious person or object.
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