Wuhan virus: Japan case puts Asian health authorities on high alert before Lunar New Year

It is the second case outside China after a diagnosis in Thailand. Vietnam has placed two men in isolation and Indonesia has intensified airport screenings

Japan’s confirmation came just days before the busy Lunar New Year period, when hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists travel around Asia

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Japanese pedestrians wearing protective in one of Tokyo’s shopping districts. Photo: AP

Published: 3:00pm, 16 Jan 2020Updated: 3:28pm, 17 Feb 2020

Japan’s health ministry has been “inundated” with phone calls from worried members of the public after the country’s first case of the new coronavirus originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Health authorities in Wuhan in central China have diagnosed 41 people with the coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, including one who has died.

Japan’s confirmation of the second infection outside China, following a case in Thailand, came just days before the busy Lunar New Year, which is a peak period for Chinese tourists travelling abroad, placing officials across Asia on high alert.

“The press statement went out at 10am this morning and the phones immediately started ringing,” a ministry official said.

The man, a Chinese national in his 30s who lives in Kanagawa Prefecture south of Tokyo, visited Wuhan and began to experience symptoms including fever and fatigue as well as difficulty breathing around January 3, Wuhan officials said.

He returned to Japan three days later and was admitted to hospital on January 10. His condition was reported to local health authorities but he was released after five days, displaying no further signs of infection.