Coronavirus outbreak update: Jan. 14, 2021

As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 14

• Japan's government has told sports bodies it will temporarily suspend the current entry exemptions that allow foreign athletes to enter Japan in order to train and compete ahead of this summer's Tokyo Olympics, a source with knowledge of the matter said Thursday.
  
  
• A group of experts from the World Health Organization on Thursday arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the novel coronavirus was first detected in late 2019, state-run media reported.
  
  
• Japan's coronavirus state of emergency could become longer and stricter, covering more prefectures if the outbreak does not show signs of abating, a minister and a government panel chief suggested Thursday, a day after the country expanded the measure to 11 prefectures.
  
  
• Japan's economy is in a "severe" situation and the pace of recovery will be moderate amid heightened vigilance against the coronavirus pandemic, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Thursday.
  
  
• The Japan Rugby Football Union has decided to delay the start of the 2021 Japan Rugby Top League season due to multiple COVID-19 outbreaks among players and staff, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 13

• Indonesia began its coronavirus vaccination drive on Wednesday, with President Joko Widodo receiving his first shot of a Chinese-produced vaccine.
  
  
• Japan's expanded state of emergency over the novel coronavirus pandemic is expected to dent consumer spending by more than 2 trillion yen ($19.3 billion) as the declaration could lift unemployment and cut sales at eateries and retailers, economists said.
  
  
• The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan dropped to the lowest in 31 years in 2020, aided by government financial support amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, data released by a credit research company showed Wednesday.
  
  
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in seven additional prefectures, including Osaka and Aichi, expanding the measure as Japan's cumulative total of coronavirus cases topped 300,000 amid a recent spike in infections.
  
  
• Japan will suspend the entry of all nonresident foreign nationals into the country as part of its efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, government sources said Wednesday.
  
  
• East Japan Railway Co. said Wednesday that last trains of the day will depart earlier for the time being in the Tokyo metropolitan area starting Jan. 20 to stem the spread of the resurgent coronavirus.
  
  
• The United States will require from Jan. 26 all overseas travelers to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test result before they are permitted to board inbound flights, the government said Tuesday.
  
  
• Residents of a southwestern Japan town have erected a giant straw scarecrow in the shape of a fierce-looking gorilla to encourage people to tough out the coronavirus pandemic.