Coronavirus outbreak updates: Dec. 4, 2020

As of 11 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4

• Japanese tourism minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said Friday the government is planning to extend its domestic travel subsidy program by five months through the end of June to support the economy hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, a move that comes despite the record number of severe cases and deaths currently being reported across the country.
  
  
• The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics reached an agreement Friday with the Tokyo metropolitan and central governments on splitting an extra 294 billion yen ($2.83 billion) in costs arising from the one-year postponement of the games, along with countermeasures for the novel coronavirus.
  
  
• The Japanese government is tackling the latest surge in coronavirus infections with a "strong sense of crisis," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday, adding that a rise in the number of severely ill patients has started to put a strain on hospitals.
  
  
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday reiterated his commitment to hosting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer, promising that the games, which were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be "safe and secure" even as Japan grapples with its worst wave yet of infections.
  
  
• The U.N. General Assembly held a special session Thursday, with Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling for international cooperation to fight the coronavirus pandemic and help poor countries financially and through other means.

As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 3

• Japan's new economic package will include increased subsidies for medical institutions to help them secure more beds for novel coronavirus patients, a government draft of the stimulus showed Thursday.
  
  
• The organizers of Japan's national high school rugby tournament said Thursday the annual event will begin as scheduled on Dec. 27 but without spectators in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
  
  
• The Japanese government is set to extend until around June next year its domestic travel subsidy campaign aimed at boosting the economy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a source familiar with the matter said Thursday.