Coronavirus pandemic latest: June 16, 2022

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

<June 16, 2022>

• North Korea on Thursday reported an outbreak of another infectious disease at home, while the country has been struggling to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

• Japan will create an entity for infectious disease experts similar to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and bolster its crisis response, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.

• As Japan resumed visa procedures to accept foreign tourists last week, travel companies have been thrown into confusion over the lack of communication regarding entry procedures and last-minute COVID-19 guidelines.

• The United States will end the COVID-19 testing requirement for air travelers entering the country starting Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, deciding to lift a measure that has been in place for more than a year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• Japan on Friday resumed visa procedures to accept foreign tourists, taking the first step toward increasing inbound tourism to help turn around its economy as worries about the COVID-19 pandemic wane.
• Japan’s businesses are pinning hopes on an inbound tourism recovery as the country resumed the process of accepting foreign tourists for the first time since suspending it more than two years ago due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• An Indonesian business partner of a Japanese COVID-19 subsidy fraud suspect said Thursday he felt sorry and shocked over the man’s sudden arrest earlier this week.
• When the coronavirus pandemic began over two years ago, people in Japan quickly donned masks en masse with little complaint. But now the government has relaxed its guidance on outdoor mask usage, the message appears not to be filtering through.
• U.S. biotechnology firm Moderna Inc. said Wednesday new clinical data on an experimental coronavirus vaccine showed effectiveness against the Omicron variant, making it the company’s lead candidate for distribution as a fall booster shot.

• The government will ask foreign tourists to wear face masks and take out insurance that covers medical expenses as Japan eases restrictions on entry of visitors imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• About 740,000 COVID-19 booster vaccine doses made by Moderna Inc. have been discarded or are expected to be discarded in 27 major cities in Japan due to expiration, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday, as the country has struggled to offer more third shots to people.

• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged government officials to take steps to expand exports, as the world’s second-biggest economy has become sluggish due largely to its radical “zero-COVID” policy, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

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