Two new cases of coronavirus in Japan showed no symptoms

Two new positive cases of the new coronavirus in Japan showed no prior symptoms of the disease, a health official said Thursday.

The two cases were among the 206 Japanese evacuees who returned on Wednesday by plane from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated.

Takaji Wakita of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said it was the first time in Japan that people had been tested positive for the new virus without having first shown symptoms of it.

Shigeru Omi of the Japan Community Health Care Organization says it was possible the two people concerned had spread the virus further.

He urged Japanese health authorities to work on that basis.

"That means they carry virus even though they are not showing any symptoms ... and I recommend stepping up measures on the assumption that asymptomatic people could also infect others," Omi said.

(Image Credit: AP)