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Japanese expert says COVID-19 infections in Japan several times more than reported

People wearing face masks cross a street in Tokyo's Ginza area on March. 6, 2020. (AFP)
People wearing face masks cross a street in Tokyo's Ginza area on March. 6, 2020. (AFP)
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07 Mar 2020 08:03:24 GMT9
07 Mar 2020 08:03:24 GMT9

The number of people infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Japan is believed to be several times higher than currently indicated by reports from local governments across the country, an infectious disease specialist said Friday.

Motoi Suzuki, head of the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, was referring to estimates by a health ministry team.

Infection clusters so far confirmed in Japan consist mainly of middle-aged and older people, including participants in a New Year's party on a houseboat and users of a fitness club.

"Clusters are believed to have also occurred among people in their 20s to 30s," who are less likely to develop symptoms from the virus, said Suzuki, a member of an expert panel set up by the government in the fight against the new coronavirus.

He mentioned ongoing efforts to develop ways to detect infection clusters among young people, with a view to preventing viral transmission from young people to their parents' generations.

Meanwhile, the national institute on Friday recognized cases showing that asthma drug Ciclesonide is effective on patients with the coronavirus disease.

Based on the institute's data that the asthma drug had worked on patients with Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, a hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture administered the drug to three elderly pneumonia patients from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Their symptoms including fever and respiratory distress are reported to have improved in a few days.

JIJI Press

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