zblncht hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." we begin in japan where authorities are stepping up entry restrictions to fight the growing coronavirus pandemic. the measures cover about a third of all countries and regions across the globe. the new restrictions will apply to the u.s., china and south korea as well as most of europe and parts of southeast asia. foreign nationals who stayed in these countries within the past

two weeks will be banned from entering japan until there are exceptional circumstances. the government will advise japanese citizens to avoid all nonessential travel abroad especially to countries named in the new measures. the ruling liberal democratic party has also put together a draft stimulus package to cope with the economic impact of the pandemic. it says that the measures are larger than those taken in japan during the 2008 financial crisis. it proposes about 20 trillion yen or about $186 billion in fiscal spending. it says the government should establish a system of subsidies totaling about $9.3 billion to help small- and medium-sized businesses as well as freelancers. the draft also says households that lose out on income should receive financial assistance based on their size, but it

doesn't mention how much. the government plans to finalize the emergency stimulus package as early as next week. japan and the world health organization will cooperate on the development of vaccicines a medicines to fight the coronavirus. japan's prime minister abe shinzo and w.h.o. director general tedros adhanomom ghebreyesus spoke by phone on monday. abe sought support from the w.h.o. for clinical trials of the flu drug avigan in japan and other countries. tedros made clear the w.h.o. would actively engage in the development of new vaccines and drugs. abe also touched on the tokyo olympics and paralympics, which have been postponed by a year. tedros expressed support for the

decision, saying the w.h.o. is ready to help japan with the preparations to make the games a success. tokyo's governor has again called on cititizens to stay ho at nightht, saying evening dini could be the source of recent infection clusters. >> translator: i once again urge people not to go out for eating or drinking, especially for the young people to go to karaoke and music venues, and i want older people to think twice before going to bars or nightclubs. >> koike was speaking at a news conference after the capital reported more than 130 new infections over the weekend. the total for march has now exceeded 400. health authorities have been unable to trace the root of infection for 40% of those cases. she also said she'll call on the central government to take swift measures to help workers who have financial difficulties. an iconic japanese comedian has died after contracting the new coronavirus.

shimura ken was being treated for pneumonia after testing positive. the 70-year-old passed away on sunday at a tokyo hospital. his office says he was hospitalized on march 17th after complaining of fatigue. shimura rose to stardom in the 1970s when he joined the hugely popular comedy group the drifters. the group performed live on tv every week. shimura later hosted a number of shows bearing his name. people on the street expressed surprise and sadness a at the ns of shimura's passing. >> translator: it's very shocking. i've been watching him on tv since i was a kid. >> translator: as i'm the same generation as s he, i feel deat coming cloloser. >> translator:r: when i hear th someone i know very well has passed away, it makes me think we shouldn't underestimate the danger of the coronavirus. >> shimura is also well-known in

taiwan among people in their late 30s and older who grew up watching his tv shows. he's said to have influenced comedians in taiwan. >> translator: i was surprised. he's unfortunately the first well-known person to have died from the coronavirus. he could entertain many people if there were no virus outbreak. >> translator: i hope he'll get a lot of laughs in heaven as the king of comedy. >> taiwan's president expressed her condolences. in a tweet written in japanese, she thanked shimura for bringing laughter and vitality to the people of taiwan. she said the comedian will make many people laugh in heaven and she prays his soul rest in peace. moving to the united states where the number of confirmed infections is the highest in the

world with 122,000 cases, nearly half of them in new york state. the spread of the virus is outpacing measures the state has drawn up, and hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. abc television aired a video filmed last week by a doctor at elmhurst hospital in the queens district of new york city. it shows a room with a number of patients lying in beds separated by curtains. the doctor says that all of them are patients with the coronavirus. she sasays the hosospital had t resupplied with extra ventilators three times in a week. new york governor andrew cuomo says that health care workers are under huge pressure as they grapple with surging patient numbers. >> you do this for two, three, four weeks, the level of stress is very intense. >> cuomo called for support citing a shortage of ventilators, beds, supplies and

medical personnel. president donald trump has extended social distancing guidelines until april 30th. the guidelines recommend people avoid nonessential outings. >> the peak, the highest point, of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks. >> trump says the total number of u.s. fatalities could exceed 100,000 and that data suggests that 2.2 million people would die if no measures were taken to stem rate of infection. italy has the second highest number at more than 9,700 cases. spain has confirmed over 85,000 cases, surpassing china's around 81,500. just a week after the 2020 summer games were postponed due

to the coronavirus pandemic, the tokyo organizing committee has announced the new dates for the games. the olympics will start on july 23rd, 2021, and the paralympics will run from august 24th. >> translator: the schedule is the key y to our prepararations the future. i'm sure the decision at this early stage will accelerate preparatations for thehe tokyo game >> mori added that the new schedule had been approved at an ad hoc executive board meeting at the international olympic committee. tokyo's governor welcomed the committee's decision. >> translator: nowow that the schedule is fixexed, our goal i clear. i think the decision will allow athletes to set their goals and compile comprehensive training

programs. >> ioc president thomas bach said he's confident that they can master this unprecedented challenge. our next story looks at what the postponement of the games means for two of japan's medal hopefuls. >> reporter: reality is slowly sinking in for this equestrian oiwa yoshiaki. he's competed in three olympics but he'll haveve to wait a litt longer to compete for gold in front ofof a hometowown crowd. >> translator: there is a lot of uncertainty. i hope that the environment will change to the point where wewe n practice and compete. when that happens, i plan to train to the best of my abilities. >> worsening an already difficult situation, the competitions he was scheduled to compete in leading up to the games have been canceled due to

the coronavirus. oiwa says the one-year delay is not just affecting him. it's also a blow to an equestrian's biggest asset -- theieir horsrses -- who have a narrow time frame to compete at the highest level. >> translator: my partners are at their peak right now. considering their age, the postponement is going to have a negative impact. >> two-time medalist miyake hiromi had overcome a series of injuries to try and qualify for the summer games, which are likely the 34-year-old's last shot at olympic glory. she says she became depressed after hearing of the delay. >> translator: i've e been ableo work so hard because the olympics were going to be in my home country. i had been counting down the days, and now it will be one more year. i'll have to sort t out my feelings beforore i can get bac at it.

>> a lot of unknowns still surround the fate of the games. more than 40% of the expected 11,000 athletes still haven't secured their spots. when they will get their chance to qualify remains unclear, but they say when it does happen, they'll be ready. a japanese maritime self-defense force destrtroyer d a chinese fishing boboat have collided in the east china sea. japanese defense ministry sources say the incident occurred about 650 kilometers west of kagoshima's island on monday night. the sources say no one a aboard the e destroyeyer suffered inju. the 13 crew members of t the fishing boat appear to be unharmed. the destroyer sustained a one-meter-long gash in its port side but is still capable of sailing.

the ministry is looking into the incident. >> people in the u.s. ststate o arkansas are dealing with the aftermath of a powerful tornado. our meteorologist sayaka mori has the details. >> hello there. on s saturday, over 20 reports tornadoes were reported across the eastern half of the united states and the strongest one hit jonesboro, arkansas. take a look at this video. this is the tornado that ripped through arkansas on saturday evening. officials said there were no deaths, but 22 people have been injured. local media says a mall was severely damaged but was almost empty due to concerns over the coronavirus. now, the system has pulled away, but this is the radar when the storm hit jonesboro.

you can see a line of thunderstorms drifting over the southeast, ample humid air and warm air from the gulf of mexico collided with warmer and drier air from the north and also the west. we have another system across the southern plains. the temperatures are going to be as follows -- nice and warm in the u.s. capital with a high of 21 on your monday, and in the single digits in both vancouver as well as seattle. meanwhile, tokyo experienced wintry weather on sunday. we saw snowfall falling on top of cherry blossoms. take a look at this footage from central tokyo. actually, this is a suburb of tokyo, and this area experienced accumulating snowfall on sunday. the temperature at noon was below 2 degrees celsius. tokyo's latest date for snow accumulation is april 17th. now, snow has pulled away, however, we are still looking at precipitation across the

southern points of western japan, but rain will stay over the waters, so tokyo will stay dry until your tuesday, but another batch of rain will affect central japan as we go ininto wednesday. temperatures are going to bebe much warmer than normal, so we will see rainfall instead of snowfall this week, rainy weather in tokyo on wednesday and possibly into thursday, but sapporo might see some snowfall once again on your friday. that's it for me. stay safe.

that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thanks for joining us. welcome to "newsline in depth." the toll of the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow worldwide. it even halted the world's biggest sporting event, the tokyo 2020 olympics and paralympics. cities around the world are scrambling to contain the infection. voluntarily and involuntarily, people are self-isolating and working and studying from home. shops as well as restaurants are shuttered.

suddenly, the world is living a new normal. and of course, people are re-evaluating their social and work lives. after the coronavirus threat passes, some things are sure to return to normal, but many things will probably be forever altered. today we take a look at the situation in china, thailand, and singapore. first, let's take a deep look inside of china, where the first virus was reported in december of last year. over two months since the government placed the epicenter city of wuhan under lockdown, the deatath toll has been decreasing, and chinese authorities have announced plans to ease restrictions. but people's lives are still far from normal, and extended restrictions have already had a serious impact on the economy, as we see in this report from

earlier this month. [ chanting ] >>eporter:his footage obobined by nhk was recorded o march 5th, i in the chinescityt of guangzhou. authorities usually clamp down on demonstrations, making this a very rare sight, especially amid restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus. about 100 protesters marched through the halls of a clothing wholesale market that had been shuttered for a month and just reopened. but the facility's owner demanded the shops pay rent, even for the period of closure. this prompted store operators to take action and protest. at many shops, inventory overflows. managers h have been stocking u for spring sales that have now passssed high season. >> translator: that would have beenenhe best titime to sell spspring clothes. >> translator: we all need a

rent w waiver or reduction. >> reporter: the outbreak has also been a blow for the auto sector, a key industry in china. on dealership lots, vehicles sit unsold. in february, new car sales in the country plunged almost 80% year on year, a record drop. this area has about 20 dealerships. most have remained closed since the lunar new year holiday in late january. some have finally reopened, but buyers are staying away. >> translator: on weekends, we used to have more than 100 customers. now we only get a few. there's nothing we can do. >> reporter: the situation has also hit the tourism industry.

this historic garden in central shanghai is usually bustling with people. during its closure, nearbyby restaurants and souvuvenir shoh still opened foror business, but -- >> translator: we don't get many customers, so sales have been slow. you don't see any people around, do you? >> reporter: while owners wait for visitors to return, some have been forced to make painful cuts to stay afloat. >> translator: a lot of people have lost their jobs. the store next door had to let three workers go. things are tough right now. >> reporter: reports indicate that china is making progress to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but the country could have a long road ahead to contain the damage to the economy. >> the coronavirus has been a huge threat to global businesses and reveals how dependent retailers are on china's factories. and here in japan, the country also banked on a continuous influx of inbound chinese tourists. this pandemic has made us realize how so many things around us, including the economy, are made in china. restrictions on people's

movement in china have been casting shadows on other countries in the region. in thailand, its real estate marketet which targegets chines buyers, is in seouous trouble,e especially its condominium sector. thisis is another case of an industry having to revisit its business strategies. >> reporter: this is how a thai real estate firm is marketing properties these days, live-stream sales. it's one way to meet its target. about 1,000 potential customers from china tuned in. sales managers walked them through the neighborhood and

showcased the units' fully furnished rooms. more than half of foreign condo buyers in thailand are chinese, but the market is saturated with nearly 200,000 units unsold, and money transfer is a problem, too. >> many of our buyers cannot go to the bank to do the transfer and things like that, so it affects the way how they get the money. >> reporter: edward is an executive at a leading real estate firm. he's been live-streaming properties since the outbreak started in china. he hopes chinese clients will make up at least 30% of those who sign on to his latest project. >> when chinese buy a condo, they havave to look for -- they have to take a look at the site, the construction site or take a look at the showroom. but now they can come to thailand. >> reporter: in preparation for

the removal of visa restrictions for chinese visitors, the company is laying on cheap property tours. participants can enjoy three days of sight-seeing for just $130, and the fee is waived if they decide to buy. >> because less and less people come, we hope more people come to thailand to find condo, therefore we do lease. we hope lease action will gross around 20% of our sales. >> reporter: the economic impacts of the coronavirus may not stop buildings from growing taller, but making sure they don't just turn into concrete jungles, that's another challenge altogether. pitrapee chomchuen, nhk world, bangkok. and now we visit the global financial hub of singapore. ththe city-state has been held a popossible modelel due to its successful efforts in containing the virus spread. let't's look a at how itit has using detection, tracing and containment to keep infections down. >> reporter: one theory suggests the infection is spreadiding in the aiair-condititioned offices

restaurants where people gather, and experts say while air temperatatures mayay have sosom effect on the spreread of the disease, it is limited. >> just thinking about it in terms of temperature alone, it may contribute, but i think there are a whole lot of other factors as well. >> reporter: while health officials work to track down the origins of the virus, the country has moved ahead and introduced strict quarantine measures. >> we have already put in place some penalties, and we will ensure that the penalties are strictcter. we continuously assess, reassess the situation and the risk, and then we update our measures progressively if and when it is necessary. >> reporter: more than 6,000 people, including those who have visited countries where the virus is spreading, have been

ordered to quarantine themselves for 14 days after entering singapore. people who violate the quarantine face fines of up to $700 u.s. anand up to six x mons in prison, with forereign nationalals even havining their visasas revoked. govement authoties have t up a team of experts to keep track of infected people's movements. they have published the personal details of infected individuals, including their profession, home address, and even their workplace. this map has been created based on that information. the red areas show where infections have been confirmed. the developers say on some days, the website has as many as 30,000 hits. >> most of the time, you see the tip of the iceberg, because that's where the severe disease is, right? and i think singapore is trying to go as deep as possible and trying to see the entire iceberg. >> reporter: it remains to be

seen how effective singapore's thorough containment policy is and whether it could serve as a model for other countries. nivedha sankar, nhk world, singapore. we're now joined by nhk world's nivedha sankar who has the latest updates on singapore. nivedha, thank you for joining us. so, tell us, what do you identify as singapore's most effective measures in tackling the cocoronavirus? >> reporter: right now, there are more than 700 confirmed infections with imported cases making up almost 70% of new cases these past ten days. this has led to the government banning all foreigners from enteriring singapore f from mar 23rd, only allowing work pass-holders providing essential services. singapore has been swift and flexible in tackling new infection sources, adapting measures as necessary based on new data and evidence of the nature of the virus.

commuter transmission is limited at the moment with rigorous contact tracing done to identify clusters and links. however, cases with unknown sources remain, and imported cases are expected to rise, despite the new restrictions, as singaporeans rush back from around the world. the government is calling on singaporeans to act responsibly so as to prevent an explosion of cases. >> nivehda, i can't understand how some see the singapore as a model with a population of less than 6 million and the government is capable of imposing strict measures. singapore's approach may not be necessarily replicated in different political and social settings. what else is the government lolooking at to stop thehe outb? >> reporter: well, in addition to ensuring stringent measures at borders, the next step is to reduce local transmission. singapore has implemented strict social distancing measures, cancelining all events, shshutt down entertainment venues, and

separating restaurant seating. and all of these regulations hold legal power with severe pepenalties and no effffort spa at enforcing thehem. on the other hand, schools remain open. and while workplaces have been advised to implement telecommuting, it's not compulsory. but the government has stated that if the situation worsens, they will take more drastic methods. its stance is to gradually implement measures so that residents have ample time to adapt. that said, people seem accepting of the strict measures implemented so far and are cooperating. due to the experience in dealing with past outbreaks, they tend to have a favorable view of the governrnment response. right now may be a turning point for singapore, as we wait to see if the current measures are enough to flatten the epidemic curve. >> andnd indeed, y d do rend u

that we are all in it together. thank you, nivedha. that was nivedha sankar from singapore. that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time.

>> scott gottlieb, your former fda commissioner, wrote a roadmap for recovery after coronavirus. the roadmap suggests that everybody wear a mask in public. is that something the task force thinks is a good idea? pres. trump: we have not discussed it, but that is something we could discuss. we are getting the number of masks that you need. we are talking about things. i saw his suggestion, so we will take a look at it.