Second case of Wuhan-linked pneumonia found in Japan

January 24, 2020

Tokyo--Japan's health ministry said Friday that it has confirmed the country's second case of pneumonia linked to the coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The patient is a foreign tourist in his 40s who is a resident of Wuhan. He is hospitalized in Tokyo and getting better, ministry and other sources said.

Before he arrived in Japan on Sunday, he visited a medical institution on Jan. 15 and 17 but was not diagnosed with pneumonia, according to the sources.

On Wednesday, the tourist visited a hospital during his stay in Tokyo as he had a fever and a sore throat. He was then confirmed to be suffering from pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus first reported in Wuhan.

The tourist said he occupied a separate room from his travel companions and stayed in the room almost throughout his visit to Japan.

He also said he always put a mask on when traveling inside Japan.

The first case of the new coronavirus in Japan was reported on Jan. 16.

In the case, a Chinese resident in his 30s of Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, was confirmed infected after returning from Wuhan. Jiji Press