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
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.
