TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said the same day.

Hayashi was the third Japanese cabinet member to have been confirmed with the virus, after Seiko Noda, minister in charge of measures against the declining birth-rate, and Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa.

Hayashi complained of a sore throat on Wednesday morning and took a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test later in the day. He skipped the day’s House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting and is currently recovering at home.

At a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that none of the officials at the prime minister’s office or the Foreign Ministry had had close contact with Hayashi recently.

On Tuesday, Hayashi attended a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting and later briefly interacted with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

JIJI Press