Japanese Woman With COVID-19 Died But It Might Not be Due to the Virus

In China, as of time of writing, there has been 1,367 deaths due to the COVID-19.

Outside of China, so far, there has been 2 deaths: one from Hong Kong and one from the Philippines.

Both of them are said to have underlying health conditions.

Today, it’s reported that someone who had COVID-19 had died outside of China.

However, it’s important to note that there might or might not be a link between COVID-19 and her death.

Here’s why.

Woman in Japan With COVID-19 Died But It Might Not be Due to the Virus

Other than Singapore, Japan has the highest number of COVID-19 patients outside of China, primarily because a quarantined ship in one of their ports, which now has 218 confirmed cases, are attributed to the country.

If not, Singapore would be the country with the highest number of confirmed cases (outside of China) at 58 cases.

Today, the health minister of Japan, Katsunobu Kato, gave a late-night briefing after it was confirmed that a Japanese woman in her 80s, who was tested positive for COVID-19, has passed away.

However, it’s not certain if she had died due to the virus. The minister said, “The relationship between the new coronavirus and the death of the person is still unclear.”

Why, you ask.

It’s because before she died, she was merely a suspect case.

The minister added, “She was suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus so … testing was conducted. Her positive test result was confirmed after her death.”

In other words, the authorities had only confirmed that she had the COVID-19 after her death.

Therefore, one can’t entirely say that the virus had killed her.

The woman had been diagnosed with pneumonia on 1 February 2020, and her condition had deteriorated yesterday.

It’s also reported that she’s not one of the passengers in the Diamond Princess cruise ship