TOKYO - Japan is bracing for the coronavirus outbreak to worsen, as Health Minister Katsunobu Kato on Sunday (Feb 16) pointed to several untraceable cases and an emergency government meeting of experts noted that the onset is likely only "at an early stage".
This comes as Japan is already facing a headache over the Diamond Princess cruise liner, off Yokohama. Another 70 cases were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total infected on the ship to 355 as governments began making plans to evacuate their nationals marooned on the vessel.
On land, the number of infections has more than doubled since Thursday from 29 to 59 on Sunday night. Experts urged measures on the basis of wide human-to-human transmission.
"We are now in a new phase and must anticipate a spread of infections. Our priority is to build up the medical system so that people, especially those with pre-existing conditions, will not fall gravely ill and die," Mr Kato said.
World Health Organisation flu expert Nikki Shindo was quoted as saying by the Nikkei: "Besides China, Japan is the only country where there have been infection cases of which transmission routes cannot be traced."
This comes as new cases have been confirmed from Hokkaido to Okinawa since Thursday. At least four have left authorities bewildered over how, or where, they might have been infected.
They are a Wakayama surgeon, who has since been linked to four other cases, a Chiba man in his 20s, a Hokkaido man in his 50s, and a Nagoya man in his 60s who fell sick after returning from holiday in Hawaii.
Let's see how things develop from now on.