Japanese citizens to avoid all nonessential travel abroad, especially to countries named in the new measures. The Ruling Liberal Democratic Party has also p put together a draft stimulus package to cope with the e Economic Impact of t pandemic. It says the measures are larger than those t taken in japan durg 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 that households that lose out on income should receive Financial Assistance based on their size, but it doesnt mention how much. The government plans to finalize the emergency stimulus package as early as next week. Meanwhile, the tokyo metropolitan government has asked residents to avoid nonessential trips but not everyone followed the request this past weekend. Nhk world has more on why experts say convincing young people to stay home could be the key to containing the virus. Reporter one of tokyos most famous shopping streets nearly empty. This stretch of road in ginza is normally closed to traffic on the weekend and crowded with tourists and shoppers. But not on this day. Still, some felt they had to see the unusual situation with their own eyes. Translator ive never seen the city this quiet. Im really surprised. Reporter shes not the only one outside. Shibuya is usually much busier, but there are still people on the streets. This young man just moved to tokyo and says he needed to go out to pick up the keys to his new house. Translator since i start my job on april 1st, todays the only day i have time to come here. Reporter people typically flood into tokyo this time of year. In april, the new fiscal year begins, so young people from across the country are coming to the capital to begin new jobs or attend school. But this year that tradition may prove dangerous. Tokyo governor yuriko koike says people in their teens and 20s may be spreading the coronavirus without knowing it. Translator r we have to avo situations where the virus could spread from the young to the old, increasing the number of patients in serious conditions. Reporter her call is being echoed by this Infectious Disease researcher, one of the experts advising the government on the coronavirus. He says young people need to realize the virus can make them seriously ill or even take their lives. Keeping themselves safe will help everyone. Translator i want young people to think about their grandparents and how they could infect them. They need to be reminded that if the spread continues, the damage to the economy will become more severe. I want young people to know that their actions will be the key to normalizing the situation. N. Reporter with so many young people starting their new lives at once, these next few weeks could be a crucial time for efforts to stop the spread of the virus. Nochi haruka, nhk world. Tokyo governor yuriko koike is to hold a conference about the outbreak. The governor is urging people to refrain from nonessential outings. Translator many people followed my request and refrained from going out over ththe weekend. I once again call on citizens to be careful and continue cooperation. Over the weekend, the metropolitan government reported more than 130 new infections. The total for march has now exceeded 400. Health authorities have been unable to trace the root of infection in 40 of those cases. Koike said many of the new cases are likely hospital acquired infections. She said shes committed to identifying the unknown roots to contain the spread. The governor said shes Consulting Health ministry experts about the mulultiple clusters in t the capital in an efeffort to compile newew measu to tackle the outbreak. Japans Largest Labor group has set up a hotline for student job seekers and temporary workers. This comes as layoffs and job offer cancellations are surging due to the coronavirus. Members of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation began fielding calls on monday. One call came from a mother whose daughter hadad a job offe cancel. A staff member advised her that companies cant easily cancel job offers even if their business situation has worsened due to the virus. This officicial says concerns a growing about jobs and wages. Translator the government needs to quickly implement measurures so that companies ca continue operating and protect people who are looking for work. Labor Ministry Officials say at least 32 people had job offers canceled across the country on friday. Companies in japan tend to hire new graduates in april, which is the start of the fiscal year. An iconic japanese comedian has died after contracting the new virus. Shimura ken was being treated for pneumonia after testing positive. The 70yearold passed away on sunday at a tokyo hospital. His office says he was hospitalized on march 17th after complaining about fatigue. Shimura rose to stardom in the 1970s when he joined the hugely Popular Comedy Group called 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 at the news of shimuras passing. Translator its very shocking. Ive been watching him on tv since i was a kid. Translator as i am the same generation as he, i feel death coming closer. Translator when i hear someone i know very well passed away, i think we shouldnt underestimate the powdanger of coronavirus. Countries around the world are rushing to find a way to combat the coronavirus. Japan is backing into looking into whether avigan can be an effective treatment. Japan plans to work with foreign authorities to expand Clinical Trials and increase the production of the drug. Chinese researchers have said avigan was successful in treating the virus in past Clinical Trials. It was developed by a japanese government. They will likely seek official approval for avigan if it is found to be effective in Clinical Trials that are currently underway. Asian countries are stepping up measures to prevent imported infections of the coronavirus. South korea says it will require everyone arriving from overseas including citizens to quarantine themselves for 14 days. The Prime Minister announced on sunday that the measure will take effect beginnnning wednesd. He said such steps are necessary in light of the worldwide spread of the virus. The country has already strengthened quarantine requirements on arrivals from the United States and europe. He said visitors with no local address will stay at governmentdesignated facilities at their own expense. South korea confirmed 105 new cases on saturday. At least 41 them are believed to be travelers who arrived from overseas. Meanwhile, myanmars government says it will ban the landing of all International Commercial passenger flights for two weeks starting late on monday. Exceptions will include cargo aircraft, relief planes, and other flights specifically approved by the department of civil aviation. There were ten new cases ass of sund, eightf them from overse. Ininortheastn thaind, inmatesave rted witsome caping aer aumor the ronaviruinfectn had bn detected at thfacility. E rampage curred sday. Prisers set res and deroyed pas of therison ich holds more tn 2,2,00 mates. Anan unkwn n numr ofof iates escaped in t c chaosbut t sen have repordly been recaptud. The counyys juice e mistry sayshehe vionce mamahave been sparked by o of the mamates rculating the rur. R. Th thaovernmen had stoed prison vits sincmarch 18 in oer to prent the rus fr spreadi throughhe cotrys ovcrowded correctial facilies. Thailand has seen its number of coronavirus cases spike over the past week. It confirmed 1,524 cases a as o mondnday with 9 dedeaths report. Moving on now 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 elmhusrt 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 says the hospital had to be 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. He says data suggests that 2 at any time 2 Million People would die if no measures were taken to ststem the spread ofof infectio. Tourism is one of the first parts of the economy to take a hit from the pandemic. We visited one japanese town thats been using the industry to protect centuries of cultural history. Reporter visitors to this town get more than just a relaxing stay. They also experience an ancient craft that flourishes to this day in the surrounding streets. And after an intensive workshop with a skilled artisan, they have a hand made souvenir to take home with them. Inami has been the center of wood carving for 250 years. Today more than a hundred artisans keep the craft alive. The evidence can be seen throughout the rooms of the lodging. And even hanging from the ceiling. The effect for a guest, is a soothing space with an air of an art gallery. The people behind this venture are a couple architects ykawama wanted to give a deeper look into the history. He took old homes and refurbished them to create guest houses. And he enlisted carvers to make their work a feature. Translator im still surprised every day by what they can do by their amazing technique. The more i learn, the more i want to share it with people. Reporter the project is bringing i in new business. Its also igniting their passion for the job. Translalator we spend nearl all our time staring att woodd d rarely get opportunities to work with people. When we chat with people who try what we do, its a good reminder for us that its both enjoyable and important. Reporter yamakawas courses isnt just creating for the outside world, its giving Something Back to the community too. Nhk world, toyama. Although toyama prefecture has no reported infections, tourists are still staying away. Theyre looking to stay healthy for the brighter times ahead. Its time for World Weather with sayaka mori. How unusual was the situation this weekend . It was a surprise. We didnt forecast that much snow, actually. It was the heaviest snow in 32 years for late march and the third heaviest snow for late march too. Tokyo expeerienced 1 centimeter of snow on the ground. And 23 sent meters in nikeo. And on tuesday its going to be even warmer. Tokyos high will be 17 then warming up to 20 degrees on thursday. And wednesdays going to be a little bit on the cooler side though. Sapporo will see unusually high temperatures at least for the next couple of days, but snow will once again hit the area on your friday. Fukuoka and osaka be will gloomy the next few days. Cherry blossoms have arrived. And today the flowers people reach their peak in kyoto. And on saturday, sendai began Cherry Blossoms blooming. That is two weeks earlier than average. Lets go to north america. During the weekend we saw a dangerous tornado hitting arkansas. This is a video of the twister. This is a tornado that ripped through arkansas on saturday evenining. Ththis twister is rated an ef3 meaning its the third strongest on the tornado scale. Officials said there were no deaths, but 22 people were injured. Buildings were damaged and at leastt one airirplane and some vehicles were overturned. Now, the system is pulling away but there is concern for more severe weather. This is the radar when the storm hit arkansas. You can see a line of thunderstorms drifting over the deep south. And we saw lots of rainfall as well. So parts of the southeast experienced significant flooding. And parts of illinois also flooding as well. Now, the significant weather maker is pushed down towards the south. So still theres a concern for more severe thunderstorms along the gulf coast. And we are looking at wintry conditions across the north. And we are looking at very unstable weather conditions along the west coast of the United States as well. 10 for the high in seattle. 9 in vancouver. Rainy weather across the northwest, but sunny weather in l. A. With a high of 23 degrees and once again beautiful weather for washington, d. C. The high will be 20 degrees on your monday. Thats it for me. Have a nice day. And thats all for this edition of nhk newsline. Thanks for watching and did stay with us for more. Output by japanese automakers and china plunged last month after coronavirus fears caused them to stave off operation at factories. Nearly 30,000 vehicles rolled out their production lines in february. Thats down 86 from the same month last year. Toyotas output dropped nearly 80 . Nissan, honda saw less. Mitsubishis production downed to near zero. Their total production outside japan was down 18 . Domestic output fell 10 as the coronavirus continues to spread globally. The automakers have halted operations in the United States, europe, and asia. They have also sususpended some lines in japan. This is newsline biz, im gene otani. Promised all out support for producing medical equipment and developing drugs for patients infected by the new coronavirus. Economic revitalization minister is in charge of a new law enacted to fight the outbreak. He was visiting the National Center for Global Health center. They treat patients and develop drugs. Nishimura inspected ventilators and was also showed ecmo which takes over lung if you thinks and helps plunge blood back in. Translator weve secured about 4,000 of these machines, but we will continue to coordinate to production is ramped up. This is to minimize the number of seriously ill patients and most of all t the death toll. Nishimura also mentioned economic stimulus now being planned. He said the government is going to quickly draw up an emergency package that includes cash handouts to struggling households. The assistance will be bigger than similar measures taken during the Global Financial crisis. Public and private Financial Institutions in japan are stepping up for small and medium sized businesses. Lenders say the number of funding inquiries has jumped dramatically. Thee government owned Japan Finance Corporation is offering loans for three years that are effectively interest free. Private lenders are also providing loans at extremely low rates. Some lenders are even putting off staff transfers. They would normally take place at the start of the Business Year in april. This is so clients can keep working with the samee peoplple during t this critical period. The governments emergency package will include a plan to have private lenders offer loans that are interest freeway. The u. S. Stock market has had a terrible month slammed by the pandemic. Some investors say wall street is near its bottom, but not everyone agrees. The Dow Jones Industrial average began falling late last month. By march 20th, had lost more than 30 . Then after the Trump Administration announced the stimulus last week, the market rose. But moodys chief analyst mark zandi thinks itss far f from o. I think the market is going to go up, go down, g go all around. But i r really dont see it comg back in any significant way. At least not until its c clear that the infectionons from the virus are peaking and starting to come dodown. But feels like were a long way from that. Zandi says the u. S. Economy may already be in recession or even in free fall. This is unprecedented. The only thing that remotely reminds me of this is 9 11. But that was f for a day, maybe two. This is, you know, going to be a month or two or three. Zandi calls the recent stimulus package a big positive step. He says it would provide meaningful financial suppoport companies with loans, loan guarantees, and grants. Tokyo electric Power Company projects its net profit for the Current Business here will fall by twothirds. Tepco says thats due to the cost of preparations for removing fuel debris from a damaged reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi plant. Tepco released a mission for decommissioning. G. The comompany will post about 2 billion on the books as the cost for the first stage of that process. That includes tests for removing debris and inspecting the inside of the contatainment vessel of e number 2 reactor. The debris comprises nuclear fuel and parts of the structure that melted down in the march 2011 accident. Removing it from the reactors is expected to cost more than 9 billion. Researchers in japan are conducting trials to see if 5g networks can help deal with a serious labor shortage. 5g debuted in the country last week on a limited basis. Plans to use 5g at its chain of Nursing Homes to o manage meals. Companany Officials Say the mov could lighten the staffs work lode. The facial images of residents are scanned as they head to dining rooms. Data on their dietary needs are sent instantly to kitchens over a 5g network. The company also plans to take photos of the meals so the amount of food consumed by the residents is recorded automatically. Translator securing resources is an urgent problem. Theyey seeee such technologies essential. Researchers at Tokyo Womens Medical University see 5g as a way of linking doctors with patients and facacilities locat far away. A truck will serve as a link. The doctotors will be able to advise surgical operations, assessendo scopic images and other tests. Zplmpbl lets have a look at the markets. From the newsline biz team in tokyo, im gene otani. Thanks v very much for joining. Berlin tightens measures against coronavirus, ordering a halt to nonessential activities and ordering people to stay home two weeks. The death toll standing at more than 7300, with more than 80,000 people infected. We will talk shortly to our madrid correspondent. Borders, and its moscows mamayor ordering a totl lockdown of the capital, it has become an epicenter of the countrys outbreak. France begins evacuating