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Tokyo ward to provide cash to infected residents

Jul 10, 2020 (NHK) - Officials of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward say they will offer 100,000 yen, or about 930 dollars, to residents infected with the coronavirus.

The officials announced the decision as the ward had registered a total of 898 infections as of Wednesday. The number is the largest among municipalities in Tokyo. Many of the cases are workers in the Kabukicho entertainment district and people who visited the area.

Shinjuku officials say the cash is offered as money to support people who are not able to work as they have caught the virus.

They say people registered as residents in the ward as of April 7, when the state of emergency was issued for Tokyo, are eligible to receive the cash.

The officials say they will send a notice of the cash benefit to infected residents. They say those residents are required to send an application form by regular mail to receive the cash. The officials aim to start providing the payments as early as August.

Shinjuku officials say people infected with the virus are struggling to make ends meet as they and their families face difficulty in continuing their work. They say they want to start providing cash early to support people's lives.

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Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) began causing significant disruption to Japan's Obon holiday travel on August 11, with ANA canceling 58 flights serving Haneda and Narita airports, JAL canceling four flights, and JR East suspending some services on the Joban Line as the storm approached eastern Japan.

Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) was closing in on the Kanto region on the evening of August 11 and is expected to soon make landfall in or around Ibaraki Prefecture before crossing Honshu from east to west, an unusual path that could bring heavy rain, powerful winds and high waves across a wide stretch of Japan through August 12.

Japan's H3 Rocket No. 9 successfully placed the Michibiki No. 7 navigation satellite into its planned orbit after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:23 a.m. on August 11, marking the country's second consecutive successful H3 launch.

The Tokaido Shinkansen operated its first overnight service ahead of the Obon holiday period, offering travelers a 15,000 yen trip from the Tokyo area to Kyoto and Shin-Osaka while allowing them to save on hotel costs and arrive earlier than the first regular morning trains.

Typhoon No. 15 is expected to approach and likely make landfall somewhere in the Kanto region on August 11, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that could disrupt conventional rail services, expressways and flights while also affecting a wider area extending into Tohoku.

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