Two fresh cases of the new coronavirus known as COVID-19 were reported in the Kanto region on Monday.
The first case of the virus emerged at Sagamihara Chuo Hospital in the city of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, the hospital announced on its website. One staff member was found to be infected after an 80-year-old woman from Kanagawa who died on Thursday — becoming Japan's sole death from the pneumonia-causing virus — had been sent to the hospital. The staffer had been caring for the woman.
The health ministry also announced Monday that one of its employees in his 50s who had been working inside the cruise ship between Feb. 11 and Saturday had tested positive and was hospitalized.
According to the ministry, the employee, who resides in Tokyo, had been gathering information inside the ship and sending it to the ministry. He went home on Feb. 11, but walked from a nearby accommodation facility afterward.
He did not have any direct contact with passengers or crew, but had a fever on Friday and tested positive on Sunday, the ministry said.