TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to hold a news conference on Friday, when he is expected to address questions concerning his health, Nikkei has learned.

Abe will focus on outlining the government’s response to the coronavirus. The outbreak has entered a second wave in Japan, with cases hitting fresh daily highs.

The prime minister last held a news briefing at his official office June 18 after the parliament closed its regular session.

On Monday, Abe made another visit to Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, after a lengthy stay Aug. 17. The Japanese leader has indicated his intent to elaborate on the exams.

“I would prefer to discuss it later,” he said.

Abe began work Tuesday at the prime minister’s office during morning hours for the first time in two weeks. He held a cabinet meeting and met with senior officials that day.

Though Abe had not performed duties at the office in the morning since Aug. 11, he attended a memorial service Aug. 15 commemorating the end of World War II and honoring fallen Japanese service members.

Abe is the longest-serving prime minister in modern Japanese history, both in terms of consecutive and cumulative days in office. But he ended his first stint in 2007 after just one year, citing an intestinal disease called ulcerative colitis.