Key words : prime urged people
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_16/
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has urged people around the country not to visit restaurants and bars operating at nighttime.
A month-long state of emergency was declared on Tuesday in seven prefectures based on a revised law.
In its basic guidelines to deal with the outbreak, the government had already strongly urged people to refrain from going to entertainment establishments in the seven prefectures.
On Saturday, at a meeting of the government's coronavirus task force at the prime minister's office, Abe said many people who contracted the virus were found to have visited entertainment and amusement districts in those prefectures. He said the trend was also observed in other parts of the country as well.
Abe said he decided to call on people to avoid not only bars, nightclubs, karaoke bars and live music venues which fall under "closed, crowded places and close-contact settings", but also restaurants and bars across the country where staff and customers come into close contact with one another at nighttime.
He said people need to reduce interaction with others by "at least 70, or preferably, 80 percent" in order to end the state of emergency in one month, and that people's further cooperation is crucial in achieving that goal.
Abe also instructed relevant cabinet members to ask businesses in the seven prefectures to take measures so that their employees can work from home, and, in cases where commuting is necessary, cut the number by at least 70 percent.
Abe said that while many companies have switched to teleworking for all employees as a rule, the reduction in the number of commuters has been insufficient.
He also said he plans to oversee the distribution of an additional 10 million facemasks to medical facilities in the seven prefectures to ease the shortage of supplies.
Key words : across Japan, more than
#N/A
Key words : first weekend
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_11/
Downtowns across Japan were quiet on Saturday, the first weekend since the government declared the state of emergency in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
There were few people on Takeshita Street in Tokyo's Harajuku district, usually bustling with young people.
Many clothing shops and variety stores remained shut, with notices saying they were temporarily closed.
Some eating establishments and drug stores were open with shorter business hours.
At a restaurant that has been in operation for 13 years, the window was open for ventilation and the tables were sanitized. But one hour after it opened on Saturday, there were still no customers.
The owner, who is in his 50s, said he has never seen so few people, and that numbers have dropped even further since the emergency declaration. He said although there is no commercial incentive for him to stay open, he will continue to do so, while taking preventive measures and reducing his hours of trade.
Key words : researcher experimental
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_09/
A team of international researchers says more than two-thirds of a group of severely ill coronavirus patients have responded well to a drug designed to treat Ebola.
Researchers from Japan, the United States and Europe published the report in the New England Journal of Medicine on Friday.
The experimental Ebola drug remdesivir is being developed by a US company. Some countries, including Japan and China, have already started using the drug as a possible treatment for COVID-19 on humanitarian grounds.
Friday's results came from 53 patients who were hospitalized with severe symptoms from the coronavirus and subsequently treated with remdesivir.
The researchers say 36 patients improved after receiving the drug.
Doctors were able to remove breathing tubes for 17 out of 30 patients who had been on mechanical ventilation. They say three out of four patients on ECMO machines that support breathing and heart functions no longer required the machine support.
The research group says the results suggest the drug is effective on seriously ill coronavirus patients to a certain degree. But it notes that further clinical trials will be needed to draw a conclusion about the efficacy of the drug, citing a lack of data on the viral load in the patients who were part of the study.
Key words : johns hopkins threshold death toll
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Key words : world health sign warned
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Key words : Trump estimate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_08/
US President Donald Trump has declared the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in his country will be "substantially under" the initial estimate of 100,000.
The Trump administration suggested last week that 100,000 to 240,000 people in the US could die from the virus.
Trump told reporters on Friday that the number of new cases nationwide is flattening, suggesting the US is nearing its peak in infections.
He said the situations in states such as Michigan and Louisiana are stabilizing.
Trump said his administration's strategy to contain the virus has been getting a result.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House adviser on the outbreak, warned "this is not the time to pull back" on stay-at-home restrictions.
He stressed it is crucial for people to continue following government guidelines.
Key words : WHO called on
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Key words : lockdown
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_06/
Italy's nationwide lockdown, imposed in an effort to contain the coronavirus, has been extended for three weeks.
On Friday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the measure will now run until May 3. It began on March 10, and was initially scheduled to end on April 13.
Conte said it was a difficult but necessary decision, and that he takes all political responsibility.
But he also said some businesses, such as book and children's stores, will be allowed to reopen from Tuesday.
Conte suggested he will speed up preparations for lifting restrictions by drawing up workplace guidelines.
Some economic organizations in Italy have been calling for an early end to the lockdown, saying the country's economy could collapse.
As of Friday, 147,577 people in Italy have tested positive for the coronavirus -- the third-largest number in the world after the United States and Spain. Italy's death toll is the world's highest -- at 18,849.
Key words : apple and google
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_10/
US tech giants Apple and Google say they will jointly develop smartphone apps to trace a user's possible contact with identified carriers of the new coronavirus.
The companies said in a statement on Friday that with the use of Bluetooth wireless technology, the apps will gather records of users' phones and send an alert when they come into contact with known carriers.
The companies plan to release software tools in May and software updates for smartphone users in the coming months.
The data would be utilized with the consent of phone users. Both firms say they will maintain strong protections around privacy.
The companies said, "Privacy, transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort, and we look forward to building this functionality in consultation with interested stakeholders."
US media are reporting the development as a rare collaboration between the rival firms.
Key words : north state-run
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200411_14/
North Korea's state-run media have yet to report whether a parliamentary session was held on Friday as scheduled.
The Supreme People's Assembly decides the government budget, personnel matters and other key issues of the nation.
The assembly has continued to be held every year since Kim Jong Un became the supreme leader in 2012.
The North Korean media earlier announced that the assembly session would be held on Friday. But Korean Central Television and other state media had not mentioned as of Saturday morning whether it had been held or not.
Tokyo-based news agency Radiopress, which monitors North Korean media, says that the state media have carried reports on the assembly on the day it was held or the next morning since 1990.
Last year, the assembly was held for two days in April.
Pyongyang has repeatedly maintained in recent months that it has had no cases of the coronavirus while keeping preventive measures in place.
Attention is focused on whether the coronavirus pandemic would be on the agenda for the parliamentary session.
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