Japanese Health Ministry confirms first coronavirus death

Japan on Thursday confirmed its first coronavirus death, according to Health Minister Katsunobu Kato. The victim was a woman in her 80s living in the Kanagawa prefecture, which borders Tokyo, Kato told reporters.

Meanwhile, a cruise ship which spent two weeks at sea after being turned away by five countries over fears that someone aboard might have the coronavirus finally arrived at a port in Cambodia on Thursday.

The MS Westerdam, carrying 1,455 passengers and 802 crew, docked in Sihanoukville in the evening after anchoring offshore early in the morning to allow Cambodian officials to board the vessel and collect samples from passengers with any signs of ill health or flu-like symptoms. Fluid samples from 20 people were sent by helicopter to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, for virus tests, Reuters reported.

The ship’s captain, Vincent Smit, initially told passengers in a letter that some could leave Cambodia as early as Friday.