Coronavirus outbreak latest: April 8, 2020

Here are the latest updates from Japan and beyond on the coronavirus outbreak:

(Chiba)

As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, April 8 (Japan time)

• The Japan Medical Association said Wednesday that a medical support nonprofit organization will set up a multilingual hotline to help foreigners in Japan for inquiries regarding the new coronavirus.
• Tokyo confirmed 144 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, metropolitan government officials said, marking the highest daily increase yet in the Japanese capital.
• U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he may put on hold his country’s funding to the World Health Organization, criticizing the U.N. body for being “China-centric” and “wrong” in its response to the new coronavirus.
• Singapore on Wednesday imposed a strict control order that bans all social gatherings, including at home, with harsh penalties such as fines and jail time to enforce a partial lockdown that started this week to curb community spread of the new coronavirus.
• To counter the economic crisis caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, Japan adopted Tuesday its biggest-ever emergency economic package worth 108 trillion yen ($990 billion), equivalent to about 20 percent of its gross domestic product.
• Tokyo and some major cities in Japan appeared unusually quiet on Wednesday with many stores shut and fewer people in the streets, a day after a state of emergency was declared over the new coronavirus outbreak.
• Japanese governors urged the state to compensate businesses so they can comply with requests to halt operations and cancel events, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
• The Japan Sport Council said it will close to athletes two major Olympic training facilities in response to the government’s declaration of a state of emergency.
• Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima, who has recovered after being infected with the new coronavirus, said Wednesday he hopes Japan’s state of emergency will spur athletes to put their civic duties first.
• Complaint calls over scams related to the novel coronavirus have topped 10,000 since the start of the domestic outbreak in January, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan said.
• China on Wednesday reported 199 new coronavirus infection cases on the mainland, 62 with symptoms and 137 without, tripling the previous day’s tally as imported cases surge.
  
  
• China lifted the months-long lockdown imposed on Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, on Wednesday, in a symbolic sign that the country’s leadership is confident in decelerating the pace of new infections.