Key words : emergency may be lifted
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200508_07/
The number of coronavirus cases reported in Japan in one day has fallen below 100 for the first time since the state of emergency was declared on April 7.
The government says it may lift the measure in some prefectures around May 14.
On Thursday, 96 new cases were reported nationwide, including 23 in Tokyo.
Health minister Kato Katsunobu said fewer cases were confirmed possibly because of a weeklong holiday that ended on Wednesday. He added that the numbers have tended to briefly dip on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.
Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi said no new cases were reported in 17 prefectures in a week through Wednesday and indicated that the emergency declaration may be lifted for those prefectures.
The government has also suggested it may lift the declaration in the 13 "special alert" prefectures such as Tokyo and Osaka, depending on the opinions of experts.
Government officials and experts are preparing criteria to ease restrictions for areas where no new cases have been confirmed or areas where cases remain low during a certain period, while also considering the number of cases and hospital preparedness in each area.
They are also taking precautions against a possible increase in cases that may follow the relaxation of the state of emergency.
Key words : more than 15,000 people tested positive
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Key words : 70 percent
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200507_04/
The Japanese government is to call on companies in Tokyo and 12 prefectures that are on a special coronavirus alert to reduce by at least 70 percent the number of their employees traveling to work.
Thursday marks exactly one month since the government declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six prefectures, including Osaka.
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has since expanded the emergency nationwide, as well as extend the state of emergency till the end of the month, instead of the initially planned May 6.
On Wednesday, Abe appeared in an online program and reiterated plans to decide whether to lift the declaration after hearing from experts around mid-May.
He said he will ask experts to set criteria on which to base his decision.
Meanwhile, the minister in charge of the coronavirus response commended the 70 to 80 percent decline in the number of visitors at sightseeing spots during the weeklong spring holidays, which ended on Wednesday.
Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi, however, noted that he sees no game-changing trends in the number of newly confirmed infections in Tokyo in the past seven days.
He asked prefectures on the special alert to continue to keep measures in place.
The government is to analyze in detail the effects of calls by central and local governments to refrain from nonessential outings and hometown visits during the spring break.
It will also urge companies to have at least 70 percent of their employees work from home to reduce human-to-human contacts.
Key words : million US worker
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200508_24/
Millions of US workers worry they won't be able to put food on the table. The latest figures suggest job losses this past month were the worst ever. The coronavirus outbreak has driven unemployment to levels not seen since the Great Depression.
NHK World's Catherine Kobayashi reports.
Millions of Americans are joining lines no one wants to join. They spend hours waiting on the phone or staring at their screens.
Then they stand in line for unemployment benefits just to get by.
An unemployed retail worker said, "I have not had any income since the last day of March and I'm just trying to survive this."
A decade of job gains vanished within weeks. Millions of US workers lost their jobs in April.
By comparison, the number in the worst month of the financial crisis was 800,000.
Earlier this year, the unemployment rate dipped to a 50-year low of 3.5 percent.
Some analysts expect it to go above 15 percent. And the real picture is worse. In general, people must be actively looking to be considered unemployed.
But many believe the jobs just aren't out there. So, they've stopped trying.
Every part of the economy has been hit. Every size of business. Every sector. Individuals are struggling alone.
A restaurant server, a retail clerk, a hotel employee.
Scott Safford at Sea Gypsy Inn says, "It was just devastating. I mean, from March 13th till March 30, we saw our whole spring and summer of business just disappear."
Before the outbreak, the economy was so strong ... many looking for work could afford to be choosy. Now they can't even afford to pay the rent.
Key words : new york distribute
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200508_06/
The US state of New York plans to buy up oversupplies of dairy products and fruit amid the coronavirus pandemic and distribute them to those in need.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced the plan, which will help farmers dealing with a glut of products because of the closures of restaurants and schools.
In the plan, the state has bought 10.6 million liters of milk, 8.2 million units of yogurt and 4,300 tons of apples from more than 2,100 farmers.
Cuomo said the state plans to distribute the food to more than 20,000 households through the state's about 50 food banks.
The governor also said that the state will extend the eviction moratorium for coronavirus-related nonpayment of rents for 60 days until August 20.
He suggested that the measures are aimed at protecting New Yorkers facing financial hardships because of the pandemic.
Key words : united nation funds
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200508_05/
The United Nations has called for 6.7 billion dollars in additional funds to help vulnerable countries and territories cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The global body made the emergency appeal on Thursday, building on its 2-billion dollar plan launched in March.
The project supplies medicine and food to countries and territories with weak healthcare systems, such as developing states and nations where conflicts are taking place.
As of Tuesday, Japan, the United States and other countries had contributed 923 million dollars to the program, which is currently playing out in 54 nations.
The UN wants to use the extra funds to strengthen existing measures and provide support for nine other nations, including Mozambique and Pakistan.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video news conference that the money is needed to save millions of lives in vulnerable places and to stop the virus from circling back around the globe.
Key words : humanitarian
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200508_04/
The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator has expressed concern over the spread of the coronavirus and the expected economic damage in developing countries.
Mark Lowcock, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was speaking in an interview with NHK.
Lowcock voiced concern over how the situations will develop in South Asia, Africa, parts of the Middle East, and South America over the next three to six months as the number of infections grows there.
He said those areas will face more serious problems due to the disease and the effects of possible economic contraction.
Lowcock said the virus is "in essentially every country on the planet now." But he admitted that the UN does not know as much as it would like to about the situation in North Korea because a UN team in Pyongyang is allowed only limited travel.
North Korea says it has confirmed no infections of the virus.
Lowcock pointed to the need for developed nations to help developing countries deal with the pandemic.
He said "no one anywhere will be safe from the disease and the virus until everybody is safe." He said that "if the poorer countries are not supported, the virus will take root there and it will be a threat to everybody into the future."
Key words : earthquake Kumamoto
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Key words : space agency
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200508_03/
Japan's space agency says it has found that the asteroid Ryugu may have orbited between the Sun and Mercury in the distant past. That's different from its current orbit, which passes between Earth and Mars, but not between the Sun and Mercury.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, says it analyzed images of the asteroid taken by a camera on its probe Hayabusa2.
JAXA says much of the sand and rock on the surface of Ryugu turned red when exposed to heat of more than 600 degrees Celsius. It says such high temperatures are inconceivable even when the asteroid is at its closest point to the Sun in its current orbit.
JAXA says the sand and rock in a recent crater on Ryugu is blue, as it has not been heated to high temperatures. It says this is because the asteroid's orbit moved farther away from the Sun in the relatively recent past.
JAXA says these findings suggest that Ryugu's shortest distance from the Sun about 300,000 to 8 million years ago was roughly one-third to one-fifth the current one.
JAXA adds that Ryugu's orbit at the time may have passed between the Sun and Mercury before shifting to the present trajectory. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun in our solar system.
JAXA says it remains unknown what caused the change in Ryugu's orbit, but that gravity could be one reason.
University of Tokyo Associate Professor Morota Tomokatsu, who conducted the analysis, says he thinks this is the first time a change in an asteroid's orbit has been studied geologically.
He says he is looking forward to examining sand and other particles to be brought back by Hayabusa2.
Hayabusa2 is now on its way back to Earth after completing its mission on Ryugu last November. The asteroid was about 300 million kilometers from Earth when the explorer reached it in 2018.
Key words : weather yoko komagata
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