Coronavirus outbreak updates: March 2, 2021

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

As of 11 p.m., Tuesday, March 2

Japan said Tuesday it will strengthen border controls to keep new coronavirus variants at bay by requiring its citizens and resident foreigners returning from 13 other countries including Austria and Italy to go through additional quarantine measures.
A woman who received Pfizer Inc.'s coronavirus vaccine has died, but so far there has been no link found between her death and the inoculation, the health ministry said Tuesday.
U.S. biotechnology firm Moderna Inc. and Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will file an application, possibly on Friday, with the health ministry for approval of its coronavirus vaccine, sources knowledgeable of the matter said Tuesday.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike expressed caution Tuesday about lifting the state of emergency in the metropolitan region this weekend, despite novel coronavirus infections trending downward since it was declared in early January.
Japan's job availability increased and the unemployment rate fell in January, government data showed Tuesday, indicating the immediate impact of the country's second pandemic-related state of emergency was limited.
The government said Tuesday it will hold a memorial service next week to mark the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan but that it will be scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As of 11 p.m., Monday, March 1

The Japanese government has requested China not to subject Japanese citizens entering the country to anal COVID-19 tests after receiving complaints of "psychological distress" from some of them, the top government spokesman said Monday.
The imperial garden party planned for this spring has been canceled again to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Imperial Household Agency said Monday, the second year the event has been called off because of the pandemic.
Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. said Monday it will withdraw from its arcade game business in North America due to numerous closures of amusement facilities in the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The third batch of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Japan on Monday as the country is preparing to expand its inoculation program for health care workers.
Japan's COVID-19 state of emergency was lifted in six prefectures outside the Tokyo region on Monday amid signs of an improvement in the infection situation, while concern about a possible resurgence of coronavirus cases persists.