Latest development of COVID-19 around the world

Japan plans to ease its COVID-19 entry restrictions on foreign nationals with resident visas from next month, public broadcaster NHK reported, after an outcry over the emotional and economic hardship that the measures are inflicting.

U.S. senator Bill Cassidy said Thursday that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "I am strictly following the direction of our medical experts and strongly encourage others to do the same," he said in a statement. The senator's office said he planned to begin a 14-day quarantine.

Brazil reported 45,323 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,204 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday. Brazil has now registered 3,501,975 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 112,304, according to ministry data.

Germany will need to take on yet more debt in 2021 to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the economy, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Friday. Scholz already plans to borrow around 218 billion euros (258 billion U.S. dollars) this year to help pay for a huge rescue package to steer the country through the coronavirus-induced downturn, blasting through a financial crisis-era "debt brake" written into the constitution. 

(With input from agencies)