MANILA – Less than a week since reopening its borders to international tourism, the Philippines welcomed over 100 tourists from Japan.

TOKYO – The Japanese government’s quasi-emergency measures for 13 prefectures including Tokyo over the novel coronavirus have been extended until March 6 amid a continuous surge in new cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

MANILA – Japan will contribute grant assistance to strengthen the novel coronavirus vaccine cold chain equipment and logistics in the Philippines through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to get boosted once they receive their vaccination voucher, as Japan battles the sixth wave of the pandemic, driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.