First case of new Chinese coronavirus confirmed in Japan
Kathmandu, January 16
Japan on Thursday reported its first case of a new coronavirus that affected more than 40 people in China.
As per the New York Times, Japan’s Health Ministry said that a Chinese man in his 30s tested positive for the mysterious pneumonia-like coronavirus. The man, a resident of Kanagawa Prefecture, just south of Tokyo, returned to Japan on January 6 after traveling to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The detection of the virus in Japan adds to fears that it will spread outside China’s borders after a case was also reported in Thailand this week.
At the same time, the World Health Organization expected that there were chances that the virus had spread from a seafood market in Wuhan that also sells live birds and other animals.
According the New York Times, Japan’s Health Ministry said the patient had not visited any seafood markets in China, adding that “it is possible that the patient had close contact with an unknown patient with lung inflammation while in China.”
