Japan confirms second coronavirus case

Passengers who arrived on one of the last flights from the Chinese city of Wuhan are reflected in the lens of an advanced thermo camera as they walk through a health screening station at Narita airport in Chiba prefecture, outside Tokyo, on January 23, 2020, as countries screen for anyone showing symptoms of a SARS-like virus which has killed at least 17 people and infected over 500. – China banned trains and planes from leaving Wuhan at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed 25 lives, infected hundreds and spread to other countries. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

 

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s health ministry said Friday it had confirmed the country’s second case of a novel coronavirus strain, in a man who travelled from the Chinese city of Wuhan.

In a statement, the ministry said the man in his 40s was a resident of the Chinese city where the outbreak began and arrived in Japan on January 19.

He reported having had a fever for several days before his arrival but said that his condition had stabilised by the time of his arrival in Japan.

On January 22, he reported a fever and he is now in a Tokyo hospital receiving treatment, the ministry said.

The statement added that the man denied having visited the market in Wuhan identified as the source of the outbreak, and said he had worn a medical mask while travelling.

The case was confirmed just over a week after Japanese authorities reported the country’s first incidence of the new virus that has killed 25 in China and infected hundreds of others.

The outbreak has prompted China to effectively quarantine some 20 million people, but the World Health Organization said Thursday that the disease did not yet constitute a global health emergency.


© Agence France-Presse