Infection routes unknown in some Japan cases

Feb 16, 2020 | News On Japan

Feb 16, 2020 (NHK) - Health authorities in Japan are hurrying to come up with effective measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus after they found it hard to track down the infection routes of some cases.

Until recently, in most of the infection cases it was easy to identify the routes as the majority were either people who flew back from the Chinese city of Wuhan or people onboard a quarantined cruise ship near Tokyo.

The officials say the number of other domestic cases increases day by day. They confirmed seven new patients on Friday and another 12 on Saturday.

And they add that transmission routes remain unknown for at least four separate cases.

They are: suspected in-hospital transmissions in the western prefecture of Wakayama, a man in his 60s in the central prefecture of Aichi, a man in his 20s in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, and a man in his 50s in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.

Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Saturday that Japan seems to have entered a new phase where the infection route of several new cases is unclear.

Kato said the government will convene a panel of specialists in epidemics on Sunday to discuss ways to contain the spread. The agenda would include criteria for people to see doctors.

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