The Japanese government said on Friday there was no need now to declare a state of emergency, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the previous day described the coronavirus as a "national crisis" following a surge of cases in Tokyo.

Japan at this stage is not in a situation where it needs to issue an emergency declaration, top spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference.

Abe has set up a new crisis task force, seen as a preliminary step towards declaring a state of emergency.