News Headlines - 04 December 2020

▽China's mishandling of the early stages of Covid-19 pandemic revealed by leaked documents - CNN

In a report marked "internal document, please keep confidential," local health authorities in the province of Hubei, where the virus was first detected, list a total of 5,918 newly detected cases on February 10, more than double the official public number of confirmed cases, breaking down the total into a variety of subcategories. This larger figure was never fully revealed at that time, as China's accounting system seemed, in the tumult of the early weeks of the pandemic, to downplay the severity of the outbreak.

▽Osaka declares pre-emptive ‘red alert’ over medical crisis : The Asahi Shimbun

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura on Dec. 3 pre-emptively issued a “red alert” for the first time, urging residents and businesses to help prevent the COVID-19 surge from overwhelming the health care system... A red alert marks the most serious level in the prefecture’s standards concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Yoshimura said the prefectural government will not impose tough restrictions like it did in April, when the nation was under a state of emergency.

▽'Go To' tourism campaign to be extended to June | NHK WORLD

The government's "Go To Travel" campaign offers discounts for domestic travel to help the pandemic-ravaged tourism industry. It is due to expire around the end of January.
Akaba told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Friday that many municipalities and travel agencies across the nation want the campaign to be extended.
He said the ministry's basic policy is to keep the campaign until the end of June, while reviewing the program in stages. He added that the ministry will respond flexibly according to the infection situation.

▽Japan to ban domestic gas-fueled car sales by mid-2030s : The Asahi Shimbun

Japan will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by the mid-2030s to help it put the brakes on greenhouse gas emissions, sources said.
The central government is expected to set the new regulations to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050... The new plan would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in the domestic market and limit sales of new cars to those with no or low exhaust emissions, such as electric vehicles and hybrid cars.

▽'Demon Slayer' boom continues in Japan as final volume hits bookstores

There is no stopping the storm generated by "Demon Slayer," as the blockbuster manga and anime series about a demon-fighting boy continues to break box-office movie records in Japan despite the pandemic.
In another boost to the "Demon Slayer" boom, the final volume of its manga series in book form hit bookstores on Friday, prompting fans to form long queues to grab a copy of the much-awaited 23rd volume, which wraps up the story that first appeared in a manga magazine in 2016.