Woman in Japan Dies from Coronavirus

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese woman in her 80s who was infected with the new coronavirus has died, becoming the first confirmed death from the virus in the country, the health ministry said Thursday.

"We'll conduct an epidemiological survey, considering the possibility that the woman was infected in the country," health minister Katsunobu Kato told a press conference.

The woman, a resident of Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, has not visited China, the ministry said. The outbreak of the virus started in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province.

In addition, the woman has not had contact with people who stayed in the province, according to the ministry.

The woman complained of tiredness on Jan. 22 and went to see a doctor on Jan. 28. After being monitored for a while she was diagnosed as having pneumonia and was hospitalized on Feb. 1.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]