News Headlines - 08 December 2020

▽One year since 'first' COVID-19 symptoms in China | NHK WORLD

It has been a year since the first person confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, is believed to have begun exhibiting symptoms.
Chinese authorities have said the person developed pneumonia on December 8, 2019.
One year later, it is still unclear where the virus came from and how it was transmitted to humans.

▽SDF nurses to help understaffed Hokkaido city fight pandemic | The Japan Times

The government decided to dispatch around 10 nurses from the Self-Defense Forces to two medical facilities in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, as the city faces a shortage of health care workers due to a recent spike in coronavirus infections, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Tuesday.
Large cities in Hokkaido as well as urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka have been seeing a rise in coronavirus infections since October and their hospital beds and lodging facilities provided for patients have been increasingly occupied, raising concerns about a possible collapse of the health care system.

▽Japan Cabinet OKs 73.6 tril. yen new stimulus to fight virus

Japan's Cabinet approved Tuesday an additional economic package worth 73.6 trillion yen ($707 billion), including private funds to help ensure the coronavirus-stricken economy to stay on a recovery track... Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government estimates the stimulus measures will boost Japan's real gross domestic product by 3.6 percent, helping the world's third-largest economy to continue rebounding from the worst contraction on record since 1955 in the April-June quarter due to the pandemic.
To help fund the stimulus, fiscal spending of around 30.6 trillion yen will be secured in a third supplementary budget for fiscal 2020 through next March and an initial budget for fiscal 2021. Both are expected to get Cabinet approval later this month, the officials said.

▽Ex-Farm Minister Nishikawa Resigns as Cabinet Adviser - JIJI PRESS

The Japanese government Tuesday announced the resignation of former agriculture minister Koya Nishikawa as special adviser to the cabinet, who reportedly had close ties with a scandal-tainted egg producer... Nishikawa was reportedly close to egg production company Akita Foods, based in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, which is at the center of a money scandal involving former farm minister Takamori Yoshikawa.

▽Shinjo wows at tryout with 1st run-scoring hit since retirement : The Asahi Shimbun

Former outfielder and major leaguer Tsuyoshi Shinjo proved a real showstopper on Dec. 7 with his first run-scoring hit since retirement 14 years ago in an attempt at a comeback.
Shinjo, 48, also well-known as an entertainer, previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and for the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. He joined the Nippon Ham Fighters before retiring as a pro player in 2006.
He was among 56 players who took part in the joint tryout, conducted by all 12 NPB teams in Tokyo in a practice simulating a real game. Participants included players released from professional clubs.