TOKYO: Three more Japanese citizens who returned home from Wuhan, China, on government-chartered flights this week have tested positive for a new coronavirus, the health ministry said Saturday.

Of the three, a man in his 40s was hospitalized due to symptoms such as fever and coughing after returning home on the first flight on Wednesday, the ministry said.

He first tested negative for the virus, the ministry said. But he was later diagnosed with pneumonia following computed tomography and tested positive for the virus on Friday, it said.

The two others are a man in his 30s and a man in his 40s who returned on the third flight on Friday, the ministry said. The man in his 40s had fever, while the man in his 30s showed no symptoms, it said.

The new figures brought the number of confirmed cases of the virus in Japan to 20, including five cases with no symptoms.

A total of 565 Japanese citizens have returned home from Wuhan, where the virus originated, on three government-chartered flights. The spread of the virus came into effect.

JIJI Press