Reported there on thursday. H hokkaidos governor says the man who died had preexisting conditions. Translator the patient was more susceptible to respiratory problems compared to healthy people. Officials say two of the 15 new cases are children under ten years of age. The latest cases bring the number of confirmed infections in hokkaido to 54, the most in japan. All elementary and junior high schools in the prefecture will be closed for about a week. Infected people there include students, a teacher, and a school bus driver. Meanwhile, Health Officials in the western prefecture of osaka revealed a woman in her 40s has tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time. Translator this is a case that hasnt happened anywhere in the country. A person tested positive, then was cleared, and tested negative, and eventually tested positive again. The patient is a tour guide. She led a bus with visitors from wuhan china, the city at the center of the outbreak last month. She was later diagnosed and hospitalized. The woman was discharged after testing negative in early february. But she felt pains in her throat and chest and came back positive on wednesday. The latest developments came as crew members aboard the quarantined ship docked near tokyo began disembarking on thursday. Those without symptoms will be quarantined and undergo medical checkups for 14 days. It will take about three days for the approximately 240 crew members of the diamond princess to disembark. Across japan, more than 900 cases of infection have been confirmed. More than 700 of those are from the cruise ship. Eight people have died. The outbreak has prompted the japanese government to call for major events to be canceled, delayed or scaled back, over the next two weeks. Amid growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, some religious facilities in tokyo are now halting their public services. A mosque located in the district has decided to suspend friday prayers until next week. The mosque manager said in a phone interview with nhk the decision was prompted by the governments call to cancel gatherings. The catholic archdhdiocese o tokyo also announced a suspension of public masses until march 14th. The move comes as lent, a holy season of observance for catholics, begins. And for more on the situation earlier, ai uchida spoke to a woman who has been covering health for two decades. I want to tart with the guy who tested positive and then negative and then positive again. How is this possible . Its unclear, from those who i have spoken to, it is not impossible to be reinfected. As far as we know, that virus has not fundamentally changed. What could have happened is that when the woman tested negative, the test was not conducted properly, and she was still infected. Which is quite alarming. What do you make of the governments new policies . The government is shifting the focus from preventing the virus from entering the country to mitigating the number of new infections. Japan has universal health care, so its not uncommon for people to see doctors at hospitals even if they have a minor cause, but now the government is asking the patient with minor symptoms to refrain from visiting hospitals and recuperate at home. Japan has been dealing with the coronavirus for a relatively, you know, for nearly a month, on a relatively large scale. Is there anything that japan has learned from all this that it could share to help organizations like the w. H. O. Or other countries who are fighting the virus . There are a number of cases here, japan has a high level of knowledge about quarantine and treatment, which can be extremely useful in showing other countries what they should and should not do. In japan, anyone who tests positive for the virus has been hospitalized so doctors have been closely monitoring the effects of the coronavirus. Over the course of a patients infection, this has allowed japanese Health Officials to collect a large set of data that can be helpful in helping experts find the answers to the situation. And can people who are infected spread the virus when theyre not exhibiting symptoms. Can people test positive for the virus and never show symptoms at all. As we know, japan has faced criticism for its handling of the outbreak aboard the cruise ship, the diamond princess. In light of this, what do you make of the governments measures . So it is important to distinguish the governments tests, and the rest of japan, and it is safe to say the governments measures have made a difference, as the number of cases jumped significantly across the area. Also, there have been a slew of cases in which passengers who disembarked, and are here, and the rest of job, i would say they have done a relatively good job, and there has been a growing urgency to adopt new measures, and leading this to a changed strategy, and whats become an increasingly uncertain situation. Also, Clinical Trials are about to start here, in which patients will be given drugs used to treat ebola and influenza and more, and it will take some time but progress is being made. Now japans neighbor continues to see a sharp rice in the number of new infections. For the second straight day, south korea saw a Record Number of coronavirus cases. More than 300 were reported, bringing the total to over 1700. The majority stem from a church group in the Southern City of hagu, 13 people have died. The contagion has caused south korea and the United States to po postpone joint military drills in the spring. The centers for Disease Control and the u. S. State department issued travel advisories and urging americans to avoid nonessential travel to south korea, it comes as Delta Airlines announced it would temporarily cut flights to the country in half. In china, authorities have confirmed more than 400 new cases bringing the total in the mainland to nearly 78,5006. The death toll jumped. And now nhk has showed more than 2,800 people have been confirmed to be infected in over 40 countries and territories. As the coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, the World Health Organization is sending a warning to europe. To the governments in europe, the message is be prepared. And when there are patients, they should be treated with dignity and compassion. And a good communication with the public. The w. H. O. , along with european Health Officials, wrapped up a twoday assessment in italy, after a surge in cases in the countrys north. It says similar outbreaks are likely to happen in other countries. By wednesday, 400 people tested positive in italy. 12 people have died. Nearly a dozen towns in the countrys north have been placed in virtual lockdown. Several nations on multiple continents are reporting cases stemming from the outbreak, including brazil. Its a first confirmed case in latin america. A man was diagnosed after he returned from a business trip to northern italy. Authorities in spain have quarantined more than 700 guests at a hotel in the Canary Island after four tourists from italy were found to be infected. They say the guests will reremain in isolation for 14 days. Algeria also traced its first case to an italian man who entered the north african country earlier this month. The growth of the virus is sparking fears of a pandemic. But the president of the United States is downplaying the risk to americans, a day after Health Officials in the country warned its not a matter of if, but when the virus will spread. The number one priority from our standpoint is the health and safety of the American People. Because of all weve done, the risk to the American People remains very low. Trump appointed the Vice President to head up the countrys Coronavirus Response team. Moments after he spoke, the cdc confirmed the first case in the country with no known links to another patient or travel abroad. The person is from california. There are 60 cases now in the United States, including 42 passengers who are evacuated from the diamond princess cruise ship docked near tokyo. Japanese Officials Say theyre still going ahead with plans for a visit to japan by chinese president xi jingping in april, despite moves to scale down cultural and sporting events due to the outbreak. Japans foreign minister will meet the top chinese diplomat on friday to discuss the upcoming visit. They briefed the ruling party callings about a telephone discussion he had with a Chinese Foreign minister on wednesday. He said china is making allout efforts to stem the spread of the virus. He also said xis visit must achieve good result, and the two sides agreed to maintain positive communication. Translator i intend to discuss with mr. Yon in detail what is needed to prepare for president xis visit. Arrangements are being made for him to meet with our japanese officials during his visit. Now, Global Shipping firms are calling off some cruise ship ports calls to japan. The tokyo metropolitan government says onethird of the visits scheduled for tokyos port have been scheduled. Officials say shipping companies canceled 13 port calls as of tuesday. 36 visits were planned from march to december. Most of the cancellations were at a new terminal aimed at luxury cruise ships. Tokyo officials wanted to open it before the summers olympic and Paralympic Games kick off. The metropolitan government was expecting about 1. 8 million of economic effect for each port visit. Moving now to a pressing demographic problem in south korea, Officials Say the fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman gives birth to, fell to 0. 92 last year. The government also says only around 303,000 babies why born in the country. Both figures are the lowest since Record Keeping began in 1970. South korea has the lowest fertility rate among the nation, and the Officials Say one reason for the decline is fewer young people are getting married and women are having their first child later in life. The government has been trying unsuccessfully to push up the birth rate by expanding child allowances and subsidizing child care. In other news, japanese officials investigating a driverless train crash near tokyo last year say improperlyarranged cables were a probable trigger for the accident. More than a dozen people were injured when the train took off in the wrong direction and slammed into a bumper. An interim report released by the japan transport safety board found cables were arranged incorrectly on board the yokohama seaside line and wuchbtd cables may have broken, after melts when it came in contact with the train base due to vibration. The broken cable may have caused the train to travel in the opposite direction. Officials say the train operator did not inspect the cables after. An International Expo on wind Power Generation here in tokyo, amid a growing interest across japan in harnessing the renewable energy. Offshore wind Power Generation is a major theme. Leading companies, many from europe, see japan as a market with plenty of growth potential. The japanese have already, in my studies, they made decisions to move away from nuclear, and to develop more, they have to grow in offshore, and we can help them. Offshore uses larger equipment than onshore, and is more stable. Global capacity from wind has seen a tenfold rise over the past decade, but japan has lagged. The government has been stepping up its initiative, including designating areas for projects and trying to lure developers. Frien firms from japan and around the world are attending the firm despite concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. The expo runs through friday. And its time now for the World Weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. Jonathan, people here in tokyo had a sunny but extremely windy day. And that caused many people to be teary with the hay fever. The hay fever conditions will stay around, but hopefully the wind will start to calm down and that will help that a little bit. Because goodness, it was windy, hair flying everywhere, and all that kind of stuff. So hopefully we will see things settling down as we head toward the end of this week. Were also talking about slightly warmer temperatures. It was chilly as we went through the daytime hours on thursday. Friday, still closer to average for this time of the year but we head into the weekend. By the way, sunday is the beginning of march. And temperatures will be reflecting that a little bit more so as we go through the first couple of days, of march. Now, as we look at what is happening across japan, we have a low pressure system now that is bringing the clouds and rain, and that pushed off to the east and back toward the west, and the High Pressure coming in behind, it but as it did, it pushed up against that low, and thats what kicked up the winds and the northerly flow, which is bringing that chilly weather. Once the high moves eastward, we will see winds from the south, and that will help things to warm up just a bit. But the rain will also be developing back to the western portion of japan. So heres the threeday forecast. 11 in tokyo. 10 in osaka. And rain in fukuoka. And by the time we go into the weekend, the temperatures will be moderating a bit. More toward the mid teens as we go through saturday and sunday. The clouds are going to be around during that time period. Broaden out the view, showers developing in china and rain will continue to be part of the story. It will bring up some of the temperatures in beijing, up to 9 on friday. Showers in shanghai. The Korean Peninsula seeing some rain as we go through friday. Now, down toward australia, we had an interesting situation, down in tasmania, we had enough cold air precipitation, were talking about snow, and the context here, its still summer down there, right . So that was a bit of a, you know, interesting situation, unfolding, well, you can see this continue to clear out, but up toward the north, were still seeing some rain along the coastal areas, with thunderstorms, as we go through friday, and highs in the 30s. And down from the south, the cold air remains in place, were talking about low teens, as we go through the daytime hours on friday. Now, as we look ahead at what is happening across north america, snow, a big part of the story great lakes and eastward and cold air wrapping around, and be on the lookout for that, and back toward the west and High Pressure brings the southerly flow and brings up temperature, 9 in denver, and Oklahoma City at 14, with sunny skies, as we go throughout the day on thursday. So stay dry for the next couple of days. Hope it is a good day wherever you are. That wraps up this edition of nhk newsline. Coming up next is newsline biz with ramin mellegard. So stay right there. People around japan are bracing for more fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. Those at nissan moat remember the latest to reluctantly scale back production. Nhk has learned that next tuesday, they will idle factory lines in the prefecture north of tokyo. The firm makes luxury cars there. At the moment the company cant get enough parts in china. And will also o lt productioioat two facactories in southeastste japapan in friday. Officials say they will go back in operation the following day. Beyond that, the production will depend on supplies from china. Other automakers in the same boat. Honda, mazda and suzuki have all had to scale back production. This newsline biz, im ramin mellegard. Fears among investors that the coronavirus epidemic will have a prolonged and serious impact on the Global Economy have triggered another selloff in tokyo. The bench mark index dropped sharply on thursday. To mark four Straight Days of losses. Totaling more than 1,500 points. The nikkei average finished the date at 21, 948, down 2. 1 from wednesday. Investors sold shares nearly across the board. Right from the open. The index extended its losses through the afternoon. Now, other markets in asiapacific region are mixed. Jakartas bench market ended down 2. 7 . Seoul fell 1 , sidney was off 0. 75 after losing 2. 3 on wednesday. Shanghai managed to finish in the positive. It recovered slightly after ending down at 0. 8 the day before. And the south Korea Central Bank downgraded its growth forecast for 2020. Policy makers there have been looking for ways to cushion the blow to the economy. They say for now, they wont touch the key interest rate. Instead, they will make it easier for small and midsized firms to get loans. Translator the spread of the new coronavirus is the biggest risk to south korea. The shock could be much worse than the impact from other pandemics. Policy makers say for a sixmonth period starting in march theyll offer extra loans amounting to 5 trillion or about 4 billion. Most of the money will go to firms in the service and Manufacturing Industries in daegu and north ken province. Those sectors have been hit particularly hard. The policy makers now say they expect the economy to grow by 0. 2 percentage point less than they previously forecast. They say thats because personal spending and exports are both likely to fall. The bank was tipped by some analysts to go further by announcing a rate cut. Instead policy makers opted to keep the key rate at 1. 25 . They say its too early to predict the overall impact of the coronavirus epidemic. Japanese workers and companies can expect to pay more of their income on taxes and Social Security during fiscal 2020. A hike in the consumption tax in october is mainly responsible for adding weight to the financial burdeden. The finance ministry Officials Say on average, 45 of workers and Companies Income will go to the government. Thats up 0. 7 percentage point from the current fiscal year. The Officials Say last years increase in the consumption levy from 8 to 10 , lifted the burden to a record high. They also point to reforms that will hit high earners with steeper income tax rates. Now thailand is a major hub of car production in southeast asia, but output last year shrank for the first time in five years. As manufacturers saw the impact of the u. S. Chinina trade war. Now, the situation has grown even more severe. The outbreak of the new coronavirus is taking a further toll. Nhk world reports. This japanese parts supplier produces components for molds which in turn are used to make car engines. Company executives say the number of orders have been declining since last october. Its been that way since the u. S. China trade war erupted with no signs that business would pick up any time soon. So the executives have shifted to a new strategy. The company now offers maintenance and repair services for its components. The aim is to build confidence with clients. Many of our customers say they want to cut costs without spending extra money. We want to impress our customers by offering quality Maintenance Services hoping they choose our servicices again when the econo improves. Many others in the Auto Industry are also grappling with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. This auto parts factory in thailand uses components imported from china. The manufacturer is worried that the spread of the virus could hinder the sourcing of those parts. Company executives say some ofof the imported components cod be made, but would require additional i investments. For otherer itetem, local s sup would likely fall short on price competitiveness and technology. Their main worry is how long the epidemic will condition. If it lasts longer, we have local alternatives, but really nothing that it is going to be serious like that. Tourism is the main stay of the economy, and the fear is over the coronavirus, keeping away Chinese Tourists who are normally the Biggest Group by nationality by far. The downturn has led to weaker consumption by thai people throughout the economy. Car dealerships are among those feeling the pain. I think beforore the coronavirus, wee were having god hopes, new hopes, but now, we have an immediate problem on our hands. Ananalysts say the coronavir epidemic could seriously disrupt supply chains in asia, generating widespread ripipplin effects. The epidemic could have a huge impact on the local Auto Industry. It is affecting not only china, but also countries exporting to china, and those importing chinese products. If a problem occurs at a factory in china, factories in other countries will have to suspend production. Thailands car industry, the coronavirus is a double blow, affecting both the makers and sellers of automobiles. Nhk world, bangkok. Lets get a check on the markets. And thats it for newsline biz from our tokyo studios. Im ramin mellegard. Thank you very much for joining us. Measures to tackle the coronavirus, governments activate emergency plans to deal withth the outbreak. An inspectction surge in countrs including sosouth korea. Several europeaean countries hae also announced new cases. Suppoported by and its capture a a town, ratchets back offensive. Former Prime Minister and wife appear in court on charges of embezzlement, and we will be crossing live to our correspondent standing by at the court for us