Xi Jinping to go ahead with Japan visit despite coronavirus outbreak

Tokyo confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Japan won’t be cancelled over the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 2,800 people worldwide. During a daily news conference, Japan's Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the Chinese President will visit the country as expected and preparation are calmly underway.

Suda said that the government will cover all the bases to produce fruitful results from Jinping’s visit to Japan. The exact dates of Jinping's visit have not been confirmed yet as both countries are scrambling to contain the deadly virus. Apart from the cases on Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined off the Japanese coast, the number of cases in Japan rose to 186 on February 26. 

Death toll rises in China

According to the latest report, 29 new deaths in China on February 26 due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to 2,744. Though the death toll due to the deadly virus kept increasing on Wednesday, the rate has witnessed a decline in the past few days.

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However, the threat of pandemic has increased with the Middle Eastern and European countries including Iran, Italy, France, Kuwait, and Bahrain reported new cases of coronavirus. Iran has officially confirmed 19 deaths due to the deadly virus and the country’s deputy Health Minister has also tested positive.

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Several Gulf nations including Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain reported first cases of coronavirus and all the patients were linked to Iran. South Korea has reported the most number of cases outside China but the number of fatalities in Iran is the highest after China. The neighbouring countries are scrambling to heighten measures against the coronavirus outbreak by closing their borders with Iran and travel restrictions.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was considering travel bans on Italy and South Korea over coronavirus threat. “Italy is, you know, a deeper problem, and we're checking people coming in very, very strongly from those and at some point we may cut that off," Trump added.

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(With inputs from agencies)