TOKYO: The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Japan topped 1,000 on Wednesday.

In Yamaguchi Prefecture, an infection was confirmed in a man in his 40s in the city of Shimonoseki, becoming the first case of the virus in the Chugoku western Japan region.

In the western city of Kyoto, a part-time worker in her 50s at a McDonald's restaurant has contracted the virus, its operator, McDonald's Co. (Japan), said. The restaurant has been shut since Tuesday night.

The woman attended a live music event held in February in the western city of Osaka, which has been the source of several infections, according to Kyoto city and McDonald's Japan officials.

Several other new infections were also reported among people who attended the music event, including three cases in Osaka Prefecture and two cases in Tokyo.

The health ministry said that a resident of the central prefecture of Mie in his 40s tested positive for the virus when he was screened at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture upon his return from Southeast Asia on Wednesday.

The first case in Japan was confirmed in January.

The total number of cases in the country includes 706 people from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship and 15 out of the 828 people who returned home from China, the epicenter of the outbreak, on chartered flights.

JIJI Press