Two New Virus Deaths In Japan As Hokkaido Tells People To Stay Home

People in Japan's rural north have been urged to stay at home this weekend in a desperate effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak as the country reported two more deaths linked to the illness

Tokyo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Feb, 2020 ) :People in Japan's rural north have been urged to stay at home this weekend in a desperate effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak as the country reported two more deaths linked to the illness.

The latest cases brought the death toll across the nation from the virus to 10, half of whom are former passengers of a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo.

The governor of Japan's northern Hokkaido prefecture Naomichi Suzuki issued an unprecedented call in a televised meeting of government executives asking locals to "refrain from going out during the weekend" to prevent further spread of the virus.

The region has seen at least 63 cases, including two deaths, accounting for more than a quarter of all infections in Japan excluding those on the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship.