TOKYO (AP) Japan’s health ministry says a woman infected with the new virus has died, becoming the country's first confirmed fatality.
Health minister Katsunobu Kato says the victim is a woman in her 80s who had been treated at a hospital near Tokyo since early February after developing symptoms.
Her infection was confirmed after her death.
Japan has confirmed 247 cases of the virus, including 218 from a cruise ship quarantined at the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, amid growing fears of the spreading virus.
