A Japanese ruling party official on Sunday called on the government to take "full-scale border control measures" to prevent the spread of pneumonia caused by a new strain of coronavirus while paying close attention to related information from the World Health Organization.

In a television program, Tomomi Inada, executive acting secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, also urged the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to ensure that the public are fully given necessary information on the new virus originating in the inland China city of Wuhan.

On Saturday, Japan's health ministry confirmed the country's third case of infection with the new coronavirus.

Noting that China's government decided on Saturday to effectively ban overseas travel by Chinese nationals from Monday, Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary-general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said in the TV program that the move by Beijing is certain to have a considerable impact on Japan's tourism industry and that the Japanese government should give consideration to the issue.

According to China's government, nearly 2,000 people in the country have developed pneumonia caused by the new virus, and the death toll has topped 50.

JIJI Press