Coronavirus pandemic latest: April 4, 2022

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Here are the latest COVID-19 updates from Japan and beyond:

<April 3, 2022>

Japan aims to accelerate its vaccine research and development under a new government body after lagging behind other advanced countries in making vaccines available during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Japan is seeing a rebound in COVID-19 cases across the country, government data showed Saturday, as experts caution that another resurgence of infections may be around the corner.
Japan’s economy, which has already been facing downward pressure against a backdrop of the Ukraine crisis and the yen’s depreciation, may also be plagued by China’s radical “zero COVID” policy and the yuan’s rising trend.

Japan’s recovery from the COVID-19 economic fallout is at a crossroads as surging raw material costs, driven by the war in Ukraine and amplified by a weak yen, are beginning to cool corporate sentiment.
The government said Friday that Seiko Noda, minister in charge of gender equality and children’s policies, has been infected with the novel coronavirus, the first confirmed case among incumbents of the Japanese Cabinet.
Japan will raise its daily limit on entrants from overseas to around 10,000 from April 10, up from the current 7,000, the top government spokesman said Friday.
Japan on Friday eased its travel warning for 106 nations including the United States and India over the coronavirus pandemic, no longer recommending Japanese nationals against traveling to these areas.
The western part of Shanghai, China’s financial and business hub, began to be locked down Friday to carry out mass COVID-19 testing, as new infections with the novel coronavirus has been resurging recently.
New recruits at companies, public offices, and other organizations in Japan began work Friday, the start of the fiscal year, with some firms reviving in-person ceremonies for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic more than two years ago.

The number of Japanese students studying abroad in fiscal 2020 dived 98.6 percent from a year earlier to 1,487, a survey showed Wednesday, as strict border controls amid the coronavirus pandemic forced many students to cancel or postpone their study plans.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it has approved the emergency use of an additional dose of coronavirus vaccines separately developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., with people aged 50 or older eligible for the fourth shots.
Japan had fewer foreign residents as of the end of 2021, down 4.4 percent from a year before, apparently due to its tighter border controls amid the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Tuesday.

China’s financial hub of Shanghai came under lockdown for nine days starting Monday, with each half of the city to be shut down in turns to conduct mass COVID-19 testing, sparking fears about the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.

Singapore said Thursday it will scrap its outdoor mask mandate and reopen its border to fully vaccinated visitors from all countries as COVID-19 infections subside in the city-state.
Japan will start preparations for the administration of fourth shots of coronavirus vaccines, a health ministry subcommittee agreed Thursday, after the government said it would procure additional doses from two U.S. pharmaceutical companies.