Coronavirus outbreak updates: Dec. 26, 2020

As of 11 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 26

• Japan reported Saturday that two more people have been infected with the new, potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant spreading in Britain, with one of them confirmed as the first domestically transmitted case.
  
  
• Japan reported 3,881 coronavirus cases, a new record daily tally, Saturday as Tokyo and several other areas continued to report the highest numbers of infections as the year-end and New Year holidays commence across the country.
  
  
• China has decided to convene its annual national congress in Beijing on March 5 next year, state-run media reported Saturday, signaling its confidence that the novel coronavirus outbreak has already been brought under control at home.
  
  
• A ruling party lawmaker attended a drinking party Friday with about 30 people in a central Japan city, his office said Saturday, despite authorities' warnings to refrain from dining in large groups to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.
  
  
• Tokyo reported a record 949 daily coronavirus cases Saturday, amid growing concern over the strain on the medical system.
  
  
• South Korea's movie industry was expected to catapult to new heights this year on the back of the Oscar win by the hit family satire "Parasite" in February, but it has instead found itself in difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• The coronavirus pandemic has prompted Japan Inc. to embrace more flexibility in workstyles but has also changed how employees see their jobs.
  
  
• Japan's Skymark Airlines Inc. has decided to introduce a four-day workweek for office employees, possibly from next spring, as part of efforts to keep their jobs amid low travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, a source with knowledge of the plan said Saturday.

As of 11:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 25

• Japan has confirmed its first cases of the new coronavirus variant spreading in Britain, the health ministry said Friday as the daily number of new infections topped 3,800 for the first time, with the number of deaths also setting a new record at 64.
  
  
• Tokyo reported its second-highest daily increase of 884 new coronavirus infections on Friday, with cases continuing to rise unabated in the capital and several other areas across the country.
  
  
• Japan's unemployment rate improved to 2.9 percent in November for the first drop in five months, in a sign that the novel coronavirus pandemic's impact on the labor market is easing, government data showed Friday.