TOKYO (TR) – Eleven persons who died across the nation due to unknown causes over the past month were later confirmed to have the novel coronavirus, reports Nippon News Network (Apr. 20).
The National Police Agency said on Monday that the 11 deaths took place between the middle of last month and Monday.
In one case on April 9, a man in his 60s collapsed on a street in Adachi Ward. Upon the arrival of emergency personnel, the man complained of “chest tightness.”
After he died, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test gave a positive result for the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
Among the ten other cases, five took place in Tokyo (as was reported on Monday), two in Hyogo Prefecture and one each in Saitama, Mie and Kanagawa prefectures.
In all of the cases, in which the case was speculated as pneumonia, the condition of the person changed suddenly such that a consultation with a public health center or sufficient treatment at a medical institution was not possible.
Saitama case
The case in Saitama involved a male officer for the Kodokan Judo Institute, aged in his 70s. He was found dead in his residence in Tokorozawa City on April 14. A subsequent PCR test gave a positive result for the coronavirus.
The test was conducted on the officer since about a total of nearly 20 officers and staff members with the Tokyo-based institute had already been confirmed with the virus. Among those persons was 84-year-old director Saburo Matsushita, who died on Sunday.
Kanagawa case
The government of Kawasaki City, Kanagawa also said on Monday that a man in his 40s living in Takatsu Ward came down with a fever on April 12. On Sunday, he was heard suffocating during a conversation with his mother on the telephone, reports the Kanagawa Shimbun (Apr. 20).
His mother later arrived at his residence and found him collapsed inside. He was then transported to a hospital where he was confirmed dead. He later tested positive for the coronavirus, the city said.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of coronavirus infections in Japan stood at 11,136 as of Monday.
