Japanese bus driver who had not visited China contracts coronavirus

Japan has confirmed three new cases of the new coronavirus, bringing its total to seven
The bus driver drove two groups of Chinese tourists from Wuhan earlier in January, and is the first human-to-human transmission in Japan

Japan

KyodoandReuters

Published: 5:32pm, 28 Jan 2020

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The Japanese government on Tuesday confirmed the first case of human-to-human transmission of the deadly new coronavirus, while it also sent its first plane to repatriate citizens from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak of the virus began in a seafood and poultry market.

A Japanese bus driver in his 60s living in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, who had never been to Wuhan but had transported tourists who were from there, was among three more people found infected on Tuesday with the new coronavirus. The latest cases brought a national tally of confirmed infections to seven.

A chartered plane, a widebody Boeing 767 operated by All Nippon Airways, departed on Tuesday to evacuate some 200 Japanese nationals from the city in Hubei Province, central China.

The government has been stepping up efforts to prevent the deadly strain of coronavirus from spreading further within Japan, classifying it as a “designated infectious disease” that allows steps to quarantine patients.

The infected bus driver twice this month transported tourists who were from Wuhan, health minister Katsunobu Kato said.

He drove 31 passengers from Osaka to Tokyo from January 8 to 11 and made the return trip from January 12 to 16 with 29 passengers, an official from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said at a press conference. None of the tourists had shown clear symptoms of infection and have already returned to China, the official said.

The bus driver developed symptoms including a cough on January 14 and went to a hospital in Nara three days later but was not diagnosed with pneumonia until Saturday. He is currently hospitalised in a stable condition.

The health ministry also confirmed two more cases, a man and a woman both in their 40s and visiting from Wuhan. The man was diagnosed with pneumonia in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, while the woman was diagnosed on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.

Concerns over the virus spreading in the country have heightened during the Lunar New holiday, which is expected to bring an influx of Chinese travellers.

The death toll from the new virus has topped 100 in China, local authorities said on Tuesday. Globally, the pneumonia-causing virus has infected more than 4,500 people.

The chartered flight will deliver 20,000 face masks and 50 sets of protective suits requested by China and return to Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Wednesday morning, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters.

What you need to know about the coronavirus in China

“The Chinese side informed us that they were ready to take one charter flight,” Motegi said. “Also, measures (for Japanese nationals) to get to Wuhan airport have been arranged.

“We will dispatch the first flight to Wuhan tonight, which will bring masks, protective suits and other support items for Chinese people and Japanese nationals there,” he said.

The flights will have a doctor and two nurses on board for medical checks of those returning, a health ministry official said.

Those with symptoms such as fever will be sent to hospital on landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, the official said, while those with no signs of virus can go home and then to work or school, but told to avoid crowds and take their temperatures twice a day.

Singapore confirms two new cases, will bar passengers from Hubei without visas

Anyone who later develop symptoms such as fever, a cough or a sore throat will be asked to contact health officials.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet also decided to declare the new virus infection a “designated infectious disease” to let authorities hospitalise even patients who refuse consent.

Confirmation of sustained human-to-human spread of the virus outside China, as well as any documented deaths, would bolster the case for reconvening the World Health Organisation’s Emergency Committee to consider again whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

A woman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Reuters

Meanwhile, the first German to have caught the coronavirus was infected in the southern state of Bavaria by a Chinese visitor to his company, officials said on Tuesday. The World Health Organisation had previously said it was aware of just one case of human-to-human transmission outside China, in Vietnam.

Last year there were 8.4 million Chinese visitors to Japan, accounting for just over a quarter of all inbound tourists.

Singapore confirms two new cases, will bar passengers from Hubei without visas

South Korea will also evacuate about 700 citizens from China, sending chartered planes to Wuhan on Thursday and Friday. Those returning on the flights will be isolated for two weeks.

India media on Tuesday said authorities were preparing to evacuate citizens from China, and an Air India plane was on standby.

“We have begun the process … for evacuation of Indian nationals,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said. “Our embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government authorities and our nationals on this matter.”

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, Reuters, DPA

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