75 of the total. The number of people out and about in the capital has been increasing since the state of emergency was lifted on may 25th. Experts say the figure means there are cluster infections that are not easily visible. They say careful judgment must be made on whether the clusters will develop into a second wave of infections. Meanwhile, the number of cases has been rising sharply at airport quarantine among people arriving in japan. The Health Ministry says 131 people were confirmed to have the coronavirus at airport quarantine stations from may 25th to wednesday. The number is about four times the figure for the month ahead of the lifting. Over 70 of those who tested positive were foreign nationals. Experts suspect the lifting of the state of emergency may have led to the rise. Narita airport has increased the number of staff at its quarantine counters to deal with the situation. Translator the entry of infected people or any other risk f factors for cluster infections must be prevented so quarantine measures will become increasingly important. The government plans to ease entry restrictions only for businesspeople from countries where the infection situation is calm. In china, Health Authorities say the country can do 3. 78 million coronavirus tests in a single day. Thats triple its daily Testing Capacity of 1. 26 Million People in early march. The disclosure by the National Health commission comes as beijing g is hit by a fresesh outbreak this month. The flareup stemming from a wholesale food market has resulted in over 250 known infections since june 11th. Beijing Authorities Say 2. 3 Million People have been tested. Theyve instructed those leaving the city to have the test. Now, while many countries are struggling to ease lockdown measures, frances Louvre Museum is set to reopen. The gallery attracts some 10 million visitors a year. It showed its antivirus measures to the media ahead of its reopening on july 6th. Signs have been placed to encourage visitors to maintain social distancing. Staffers and visitors over the age of 11 must wear a mask in the museum. Visitors have to book a time slot in advance. Translator visitors can enter the museueum and avoid standing in liline by m makingg reservations. Please feel it is safe to visit. Johns Hopkins University says covid19 infections exceed 9. 3 million worldwide. Thats a rise of 170 in the past month. The World Health Organization chief says the surge will continue. He asked countries around the world to take urgent countermeasures. In the first month of this outbreak, less than 10,000 cases were reported to w. H. O. In the last month, almost 4 million cases have been reported. We expect to reaeach a total of0 million cases within the next week. The head of the w. H. O. s health emergenencies program, michael ryan, says the pandemic in the amemecas is intntense an has yet to peak. The global death toll topped 479,000. Thehe International Monetar fund has once again slashed its Economic Forecast for the global economy. It now estimates an overall contraction of 4. 9 in 2020. Thats nearly 2 Percentage Points lower than its f forecas in april. European countries beared the brunt of the ims grim outlook. Italy and spain are expected to see a decline of 12. 8 . France is predicted to hit minus 12. 5 , b britain minus 10. 2 . The United States is projected to shrink by 8 . Japan, minus 5. 8 . China is expected to see a growth of 1 . The only major economy that could grow this year. But still its lowest rate in 44 years. The imf says the projections reflect the fallout from social distancing as well as a rise in precautionary savings. Given that theres so much uncecertainty and given that th health risk i is not over yet, are projecting a slow recoverer. She adds that the imf expects to see a pick up as many countries reopen. But the growth is uneven. Teleworking is catching on in japan as a way to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but workers Say Something is missing. Nhk world visited one workplace thats making remote work feel a lot less remote. R reporteter this woman is Satellite Office in suburban tokyo. She and her colleagues work at an advertising firm. They clock in at 9 00 a. M. From various locations. Translator i can see my team members here. This is me. This person is in saitoma. And this guy over here is in nagano. The other three have logged in from chiba. Reporter employees feel like they are working under the same that is partly because they y c easily see what each other is doing. They set their status toto available, away, on the phphone or by. When they want to check if someone is available, they move their cursor over to the persons avatar, and the status pops up. This servicece is designed to provide sosomething that many remotete workers feel is lackin close communication. A recent survey shows that nearly half of such people believe they dont give or receive words of appreciation like they used to. About 40 say they have less opportunity to chat and share ideas with colleagues. They do not Pay Attention to colleagues work progress or help each other as much as before. The president of this Company Believes that a common problem of Remote Working is that team members cant see what each other is u up to. Translator japanese workers try to read the situation anand carry out their duties accordingly. Since we cannot see others situations while teleworking, i think manynyorkers finind it ha to comommunicatete. Reporter himeda calls on colleagues directly even for small issues, as long as theyre available. Translator in a real office, i have experienced great ideas coming out of casual conversation. I think this system provides a very close environment. Reporter an expert in teleworking thinks these offices could catch on in japan in the future even if the coronavirus goes away. Translator japanese firms have recognized the importance of working togetheher in the sa office, fefeeling the sense of unity. Y. In a cloud office, people can be together virtually. So i think more companies will introduce vr offices which fit the japanese way of working. Reporter vr offices are becoming the new normal in japan. Some arere proving that online workplaces dont just keep people c cnected but can fostet strong teamwork no matter where they happen to be. Nhk world. Singapores parliament was dissolved on tuesday and an election has been called for july 10th. The announcement comes after coronavirus reinstructiostricti eased last weeeek. One of the most Important Campaign issues will be how t t govevernment has handleded the pandemic. An election now when things are relatively stable will clear the deck and give the new government a fresh, full fiveyear mandate. It can then focus on this national agenda. Now, it wont be a normal campaign. Rallies are banned in a bid to prevent infections. Singapapores elections departmt has detailed plans to provide additional tv broaasasts and livestreaming opportunities. Singapore has been hit hard with more than 40,000 coronavirus cases. The vast majority are linked to dormitories that house foreign migrant workers. Although the spread of infections has slowed, hundreds of new cases are still being confirmed daily. Authorities have sharply downgraded the city States Economic outlook with the Business Activities weighing down expectations. Thats set to be a focal point in the campaign as voters consider policies to maintain and create jobs. Candidates are also expected to address ways to improve working conditions for migrant workers. After a few days of sunny weather, peoplple in western j n are asked to be on alert as they see a return of heavy rain. Lets go to our meteorologist Tsietsi Monare for more on this. Tsietsi, some parts of that area are seeing record amounts of rainfall. Whats the latest . Yes, indeed. Over the last couple of weeks weve been dealing with a stationary front thats coupled with the rainy season bringing heavy rainfall towards most part of westernrn japan a as well as cecentral japan. Weve seeeen record breaking rainfallll in cononcern places especially towards northern kyushu, possible for about 181. 5 millimeterofof raialall in just three h hours w which is an alle record for that time. And the rainfall is set to continue. Lets quickly take a look at this video just to get a visual representation of what has been happening as parts of nagasaki prefecture have 100 millimeter or more in just one hour this morning. Risk of landslides reached the highest rank and evacuation advisories havave been issssued some cities in the prefecture. So, peoplple are warned to o be the lookout. There could be strong chances for mud slides in certain areas. And as more warm and moist southerly wind comes through funneling through making the system much stronger, it could lead to more rainfall. If you look at fukuoka for the next four days, there is expected to be quite rainy conditions to continue up until sunday. Temperatures will be cooler for the northern part of japan, sapporo five to six degrees cooler than a few days ago. Thursday 21 as well as friday and 23 both saturday and sunday. Across the United States before the United States, rather, take a look at whats happening in asia. Temperatures increasing towards chongqing as well as taipei, manila joining the pack with the hot conditions. I was eager to tell you about the United States. Its because of the hot conditions that are persisting about much of the western side. Still hot and dry. Could lead to forest fires. Could lead to heat exhaustion in certain places. So, make sure you stay hydrated and stay indoors before had you can. Its going to be quite dry for the next couple of days or so. And look at these temperature frs death valley. 49 degrees is what you should expect. Thats all for the weather. Stay cool and have a great day. And thats all for this edition of nhk newsline. Im Yamamoto Miki in tokyo. Please stay safe and stay healthy. Thanks for joining us on nhk worldjapan. Welcome to you newsline in depth. Im shibuya aki. Today, were looking at creatures coming to peoples rescue in the pandemic, some from animal shelters, others from the spirit world. The global outbreak of covid19 has changed many things about our daily lives. One result is that a lot of us, because were working from home or just nervous about going out, are spending more time in the house. E. Now, whilele that t can be a re for loneliness and depression, it doesnt have to be. In fact, people are also seeing this as an opportunity for exploring new lifestyles like having online get togethers with friends and working up a sweat indoors. And Something Else is happening. More of us are opening our doors to new families members, pets. In the United States, the need for companionship is causing quite a comotion at animal shelters, meaning a lot of wagging tails and purring. [ applause ] reporter most of the dogs at this animal shehelter in florid aree gone. Staff sayay they used to havave imals, but only about 70 are left. A and ive been here 11 y ye and ive never seen n numbe this low. W. Reporter tssamily a adopt aa dog from a shelter at the end of march. They say its relieved a lot of stress caused by thehe pandemic. You know, having a dog and when he licks their face or they laugh, so it brings a lot of happiness. Reporter but some people are raising concernsbobout a thehe they worry that some owners might mimistreat orr abandon th new pets once the pandemic is over. Staff at this organization in new york say they have a way to prevent that. Theyve written a contract for adopters to sign. It requires owners to be responsible for the wellbeing of their animals. The security that our dogss are in a good home. It really does provide me the feeling tt the dogs are going into a great home. We want our dogs to have a happily ever after, if you will. Reporter Bonnie Edwards completed the adoption process in early may. She worked as a government lawyer but is now retired. She used to enjoy her free time by going to the theater and dining out. But all that changed with the coronavirus. I miss the opera. I miss going to restaurants with my friends. I miss all of that. I miss, you know, contact with people up close and personal. Ive never seen anything like this in my lifetime. Reporter she says that signing the contract gave her a strong sense of responsibility. Its almost like having my own therapist. Whatever happens, you know, l be thehere for him. Reporter the covid19 pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of our lives. Many people are finding ways to move forward with the help of their new companions. Sam tsuzuki, nhk world, new york. The rush to adopt pets is not confined to the u. S. Countries across the globe are reporting a growing interest in animal companions. In china, however, the pandemic has proved to o be a roughgh ti fofor many dogs a and cats. Abandonment of domesticated animals has been on the rise since the outbreak started. That trend got worse in march where the Hong Kong Government announced it had confirmed cases of Coronavirus Infections in pets. This shelter is on the front line of the problem. Between february and may, it took in over 2 uhuh wanted cats and dogs. Were now hearing that the facility is doing the best they can given the circumstances, staging more adoption events to find homes for the animals in its care. Here in japan, Animal Rescue groups are wrestling with a different kind of challenge. While its true the pandemic has presented opportunities to rehome more cats and dog, it has also thrown up a hurdle, how to create safe spaces for animal human match making. Our next report looks at the thorn in the side of the pet Adoption Campaign and whats being done to remove it. Reporter this shelter in yokohama cares for 30 cats and 5 dogs. Some have Health Issues and they all need to be looked after. The establishment has been saving animals for more than six decades, but a state of emergency declared in april has made their work more difficult. The number of workers has been reduced but not the number of animals. To adopt an animal in japan, people often need to attend adoption events. Most of them have been cancelled amid the outbreak. Since pets arent finding new homes, yamadas shelter cant rescue any new animals. Translator if we accepted morere animals, we wouldnt be able to take proper care of them. Reporter to make matters worse, spring is kitten season. Alongside other animals, many young cats have been euthanized by animal control. But thanks to the work of rescue groups, the number of unwanted pets put down has been reduced to a. 1 in 15 years. Now the pandemic may put an end to that trend. To help with the situation, pet information website, meaning tail in japanese, came out with a new idea, an online adoption event. The site features groups from across thehe c country to intdu their animals on a youtube live event. That way families can safely choose a pet without leaving home. Translator many rescue groups are struggling because they cant hold adoption events. The online fair is easy to join. There are still lots of people who dont know about abandoned animals. Yamada immediately got onn board. Shshe see potential in n this n service. Translator first of all we need people to know that shelters exist as an option for families searching for a pepet. Until everyone knows about itit there will still be lots of people buying animals at pet shops. Reporter yamada hopes that online adoption events continue even after the pandemic to keep abandoned animals in the spotlight. As mentioned in the report, adopting pets from shelters is still not a common practice in japan. One reason is that many in this country are still not familiar with the system of rehoming anal mas. Another season is that rescue groups tend to have strict adoption requirements. While thats something we should all applaud, these safeguards drive many people to purchasase pet instead. One other rereason people tend prefer pure bred puppies which are harder to find at shelters. Volunteer or rescue groups are happy about the increase in adoptions, but at the same time there are concerns that once things go back to some kind of normality, people wont have the time to care for their animals as much and some may even end up giving up their pets. I really hope this wont be the case. Welcoming an animal into our home comes with responsibilities and those obligations last for a lifetime, however many dog or cat years that may be. Now from canines and felines, we turn to another type of creature coming to peoples aid through the pandemic, a japanese mythical monster, a strange phantom believed to ward off plagues. And conveniently, in this era of social media, our friend from folklore is going viral. Reporter t tse picturess depict a monster with long hair, a short beak, and in place of legs. Its amabie. According to japanese folklore it first appeared in the ocean and brought an important message. It said that if an epidemic occurs, images of the amabie should be shown to everyone and they will be cured. Japan has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, it didnt take long for this natural phenomenon to spread across the country. Japans Health Ministry has used the ammabie image in its campaign to encourage people to stay at home. Amabie pictures are all over the internet too. People have been posting their own versionss on twitter and instagram. Many of these images are featured the in a new book that came up on may 17th called everyones amabie. The work on the cover is this maman. He was one of the first to p po amabie images on lines. Translator the charm about the amabie is that theres something about it that makes people want to try drawing it. As this looks to continue for a lolong time, i thought it woulde nice to have a positive that sheds light on the present reality and also goes beyond language barriers. And thats when this boom passes. Reporter articles about the amabie sproeead on the worlds p media sites and some have brands dedicated to it. Italy has suffered badly from the pandemic. Now an art gallery in rome has launched an Online Auction of amabie paintings by 39 artists. All of the proceeds will go to a hohospital. Well, the first moment thati saw it, of course i was fascinated. Reporter the response was great and the event is drawing quite a lot of attention among people all over the country. We, as people, we always search for signs in the sky, for different ideas that will empower us to not f feel helple. So, existence of this monster empowers us to take charge into our lives in such a desperate time. Reporter can amabie remain through the Global Pandemic . That remains to be seen. But picictures of the fantastic creature are helping to inspire people in many ways during this time of great suffering. Nhk world, tokyo. Its interesting how people around the world are connecting through an imaginary creature in the fight against an invisible enemy. Scientific or not, the amabie is definitely spreading positive spirit, and that, as we know, can be a israel toief implores stop annexation plans on the occupied west bank. Hello, i am barbara farrar. You are watching al jazeerara. Kosovos president pulls out of a meeting with the white house after being accused of war crimes. And, the u. S. Could soon be overwhelmed by a resurgence of covid19. And, a mother grieves her stolen