Two people who were aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked near Tokyo have died.
Passengers continue to disembark from the cruise ship on Thursday.
Health authorities in China reported 114 more deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of fatalities on mainland to 2,118.
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Key words : two people cruise ship both patient
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_41/
Two people have died who were aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked near Tokyo. They had been hospitalized and tested positive last week for the new coronavirus.
Both patients were Japanese. One was an 87-year-old man who had bronchial asthma. The other was an 84-year-old woman. She didn't have any pre-existing conditions. Officials say both had a fever and developed pneumonia.
During a press conference, a health ministry official was asked whether keeping elderly passengers on the cruise ship increased their risk of getting infected. Here's what he had to say.
Masami Sakoi said, " We believe we handled the situation appropriately. We transferred the two passengers to hospitals as soon as we learned they had a fever. That was before we even had their test results."
The death toll of people infected with the virus in Japan now stands at three. Last week a woman in her 80s died in Kanagawa Prefecture, which borders Tokyo.
Key words : passengers to disembark majority are Japanese
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_24/
Passengers continue to disembark from the quarantined cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port.
As of Wednesday, a total of 621 passengers and crew members on the Diamond Princess had tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Passengers who tested negative and had not developed symptoms during the two-week observation period began to leave the ship on Wednesday. Of the 443 who disembarked the majority are Japanese.
Nearly 2,000 people remain on the ship. About 500 more passengers are expected to come ashore on Thursday. The disembarkation process is scheduled to end on Friday.
However, those who shared a cabin with someone who tested positive are being asked to stay on the ship for an additional 14 days after the patient leaves.
Japanese health ministry officials will contact by phone those who left the ship in order to monitor their health conditions for several days.
The officials will consider measures to allow crew members to disembark after the passengers.
Key words : health experts around
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_37/
Health experts around the world are now evaluating the effectiveness of the quarantine in Japan. Some say the virus prevention measures on board the ship weren't good enough, but the WHO says it's too soon to know as experts race to discover more about the virus.
WHO senior epidemiologist Matthew Griffith is a technical advisor who has been analyzing epidemics and advising Japanese officials.
He said the virus is a "moving target", making it difficult to collect information on it and treat people at the same time.
Griffith said, "Nobody had dealt with this situation before us as a new coronavirus, a new virus onboard a ship with 4000 people. There are no guidelines for that. There are no prior experiences for that."
Criticism has been building both in Japan and internationally. Some medical experts have questioned whether the Diamond Princess should have been quarantined for two weeks after arriving in Yokohama.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases reported that the new coronavirus continued to spread onboard even after the passengers were told to stay in their cabins as a quarantine measure.
Griffith said quite a few passengers were likely already infected before the measures were enacted.
He said, "Prior to arriving in Yokohama, there was an increase in the number of phone calls to the clinic or visits to the clinic on the ship. "
He added, "I think it's really important to understand that there was probably a substantial amount of transmission on the ship prior to arriving in Yokohama."
Another criticism has focused on whether health authorities took enough measures to isolate people.
Griffith said, " Due to the nature of the ship it was not possible to isolate every person individually. I mean, when the ship arrived, there were almost 4000 people on it and there just weren't enough facilities available to individually isolate people."
Griffith noted that decisions over quarantines are always a balance between caution and feasibility. But he added the world is in uncharted territory, and that the unprecedented nature of the coronavirus means it will take time for experts to know the best path forward.
Key words : education and science
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_34/
Japan's education and science ministry has announced an emergency research project on the new coronavirus.
The ministry said on Thursday that it will finance researchers at six Japanese universities to take part in the project. They include Nagasaki University, the University of Tokyo, Osaka University, Tohoku University, Kobe University and Niigata University.
The ministry says experts at these universities have access to research centers in Vietnam, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar.
The project is aimed at collecting information about the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, and develop virus cultivation methods.
Ministry officials say they hope that the sharing of information from the Asian countries will help put test kits and vaccines into practical use.
Key words : set up telephone foreign resident
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200219_29/
Authorities in some prefectures where people are confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus are providing multilingual information services for foreigners visiting or living in Japan.
Okinawa Prefecture has set up a round-the-clock hotline serviced by medical professionals who provide information on medical institutions that can handle foreign languages. The service is available in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Thai. The phone number is 0570-050-235.
Osaka Prefecture is offering telephone services in 10 languages including English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Thai, Indonesian and Nepalese. The Osaka Foundation of International Exchange is providing a hotline on weekdays and on the second and fourth Sundays. The phone number is 06-6941-2297.
The Osaka International House Foundation is also offering telephone services in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The phone number is 06-6773-6533.
And the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau has a hotline exclusively in Chinese. The phone numbers are 080-1460-7627 and 080-1463-3489.
Kyoto Prefecture is offering the telephone support services in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Portuguese and Spanish. The service is provided by the Kyoto Prefectural International Center every day, except for the second and fourth Tuesdays and holidays. The phone number is 075-343-9666.
Wakayama Prefecture is providing information in English, Chinese and Tagalog through the Wakayama International Exchange Center. Tagalog is available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. English and Chinese are available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Wednesday. The phone number is 073-435-5240.
Aichi Prefecture is offering support through its Multilingual Call Center. The call center can be accessed using a smartphone, by first visiting the prefecture's official tourism site Aichi Now, where there is a link to the call center page. A call can be made by pressing the button on the page.
The service is available in 9 languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish for 24 hours.
Thai service is available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.. Calls in Vietnamese, Tagalog, and French can be made from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m..
Mie Prefecture is offering telephone information in 10 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Indonesian and Thai.
The service is provided by the Mie Consultation Center for Foreign Residents on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number is 080-3300-8077.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is offering a hotline for speakers of English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Thai and can refer people to relevant public health centers as necessary. The service is provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Information Center "Himawari" from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day including weekends and holidays. The phone number is 03-5285-8181.
In Saitama Prefecture, the Saitama Information & Support is offering telephone support services in 10 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Nepalese.
The service is available on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The phone number is 048-833-3296.
Hokkaido Prefecture is also providing an information hotline in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Thai, Russian, Nepalese, Indonesian and Burmese. The service is provided by the Hokkaido Foreign Resident Support Center. The phone number is 011-200-9595. The service is available on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Key words : health authorities in reported campaign
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_20/
Health authorities in the Chinese province of Hubei reported 108 more deaths from the new coronavirus infection on Wednesday, bringing the total number of fatalities from the virus in China to 2,112.
Officials say 9,128 people in the province are in serious condition.
Authorities also said 349 new cases were reported in the province, mostly in the city of Wuhan, the center of the outbreak.
The number of new cases dropped significantly from the previous day's figure of nearly 1,700 and was the lowest since the start of the month.
In the city of Wuhan, authorities conducted a three-day campaign through Wednesday to screen residents for symptoms, such as fever.
The aim is to stop the outbreak from spreading further by making sure everyone with symptoms is accepted at hospitals or quarantined in other ways.
Key words : Mike
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_38/
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has condemned China's decision to expel three correspondents for The Wall Street Journal over a column published in the newspaper about the coronavirus outbreak.
The headline of the opinion piece by a US scholar refers to China as the "real sick man of Asia." China denounced the piece as racist and on Wednesday revoked the press credentials of the three journalists based in China.
In response, Pompeo on Wednesday issued a statement saying the United States condemns the expulsion, and that "Mature, responsible countries understand that a free press reports facts and expresses opinions."
The statement also says "The correct response is to present counter arguments, not restrict speech. The United States hopes that the Chinese people will enjoy the same access to accurate information and freedom of speech that Americans enjoy."
Earlier this week, China reacted sharply when the US State Department designated five Chinese media outlets, including the Xinhua news agency, as entities directly controlled by China's government.
The department said the organizations must now register personal information about their reporters.
Key words : seven holdings
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_46/
Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings is in talks to acquire a US refinery's chain of gas stations.
Sources say the Seven-Eleven owner is in the final stage of talks with Marathon Petroleum Corporation. The deal could be worth 22 billion dollars.
The Speedway gas stations number about 4,000 in the US. They also feature convenience stores.
The Japanese retailer is apparently aiming to strengthen its overseas business by expanding its US network amid weak growth prospects for Japanese retailing.
Seven & i officials say they are considering various possibilities for a new growth strategy, including partnerships and acquisitions.
Key words : familymart
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200220_35/
Convenience store chain operator FamilyMart says one in seven employees will take up an early retirement offer. The company is trying to unlock funds to support stores that are struggling with severe staff shortages.
FamilyMart says 1,025 employees aged 40 or over at its headquarters will leave the company at the end of March. That's more than the target of 800.
FamilyMart says the early retirement program will enable it to cut annual personnel spending by about 72 million dollars. The company is trying to find 90 million dollars. It also says it will do as much as it can to help retiring employees find new jobs.
Many convenience stores in Japan are also looking at no longer staying open for 24 hours.
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