Coronavirus outbreak latest: March 31, 2020

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

(Tokyo)

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As of 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, March 31 (Japan time)

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As of 11 p.m., Monday, March 30 (Japan time)

• Calls grew Monday for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus before it is too late.
• The Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic, will be held from July 23 to Aug. 8 in 2021, an official with knowledge of the matter said Monday. The lingering question is whether the global health crisis will be under control by then.
• Vissel Kobe defender Gotoku Sakai has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the J-League first-division team said.
• Auto production by major Japanese carmakers in China plunged 86.7 percent in February from a year earlier to 29,911 units due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, data released by the companies showed.
• South Korean President Moon Jae In unveiled on Monday plans to hand out 1 million won ($816) to each four-person household below the top 30 percent of income earners, to cushion the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
• A group of Japanese nationals left Peru on a chartered flight after they were stranded in the South American country following its decision to close borders and ground international flights earlier this month in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
• Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it will temporarily halt work at all plants in Europe and Russia in an effort to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
  
  
• Japan is planning to ban foreign nationals from entering from the United States, China, South Korea and most of Europe to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, government sources said.
• Japanese veteran slapstick comedian Ken Shimura died Sunday of coronavirus-caused pneumonia, his agency said. He was 70.
• The U.S. government extended to April 30 its guidelines asking people to stay at home and practice social distancing, citing an estimate that 2.2 million people could die in the absence of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

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