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CHINA-VIRUS-HEALTH-JAPAN
Japan confirms second coronavirus case
TOKYO, Jan 24, 2020 (BSS/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 18 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.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1018 hrs