Coronavirus outbreak updates: Feb. 13, 2021

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

As of 11 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 13

More than half of 78 listed Japanese regional banking groups and banks saw a decline in their net profits or incurred red ink in the April-December period, hit by the coronavirus pandemic, an analysis of their earnings reports showed Saturday.
Exports from six Southeast Asian countries fell 2.2 percent in 2020 from a year earlier to a combined $1.35 trillion, a relatively small decline despite the coronavirus pandemic hitting the region and other parts of the world, according to data from the Japan External Trade Organization.
Global air passenger traffic in 2020 sank a record 65.9 percent from the year before amid tighter border controls due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a rebound to around half of 2019 levels expected this year, an industry group said.
The debate about whether the Tokyo Olympics should go ahead this year has led some organizers to question their involvement, but for 3x3 basketball tournament coordinator Susumu Ebihara, it has clarified his mission to move forward and shine a spotlight on the sport.
Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven countries on Friday emphasized the importance of supporting pandemic-hit economies toward a recovery, with the United States calling for further fiscal aid and vowing to return to multilateralism.

As of 11 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12

Japan's health ministry panel on Friday greenlit the coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to become the first approved for use in Japan, officials said, as the first batch of doses arrived in the country.
The Australian Open tennis tournament will continue without spectators, officials said Friday after Victorian state leaders announced a five-day lockdown due to a coronavirus cluster linked to a quarantine hotel in Melbourne.
The Japanese government decided Friday against lifting the COVID-19 state of emergency covering Tokyo and other regions this week ahead of the March 7 end date, as hospitals continue to be under pressure despite a decline in infections.
Japan's health ministry is planning to move ahead with a formal approval of the coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. on Sunday, when the first batch of doses is scheduled to arrive in the country, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.