Japan Sets Up Expert Panel to Contain Virus Outbreak

Tokyo, Feb. 14 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government on Friday set up a panel of experts in a stepped-up effort to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

"We'll strengthen countermeasures by setting up a panel comprising infectious disease experts active at the forefront of their fields," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a meeting of government officials.

The government will also set up consultation centers about the virus at a total of 536 locations across the country.

These moves came one day after the government reported the first death from the virus in the country.

Speaking at a press conference, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said his ministry is preparing to send a fifth chartered plane on Sunday to bring home Japanese nationals from China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]