BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2020) China has delivered a batch of coronavirus test kits to Japan, the country most afflicted with the virus outside China, the Chinese embassy in the country said Wednesday.
"After learning that Japan lacks tests to detect the novel coronavirus, China immediately expressed its readiness to provide assistance. After multi-party coordination, we recently provided the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases with a batch of tests through the Shenzhen Huada Gene Technology Co. and Shenzhen Mammoth Public Welfare Foundation," the embassy said in a message.
Japan has recorded more than 80 cases of infection with the virus, known officially as COVID-19, and hosts the Diamond Princess cruise ship where over 600 cases have been detected leading to two deaths.
Hundreds of people have left the cruise liner Wednesday when the three-week quarantine was lifted, although many nationals will have to endure further quarantines in their home nations upon return.
The novel coronavirus disease, dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), was first detected in Wuhan, China's Hubei Province, in late December 2019 and has since spread to more than 25 other countries. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland China has crossed 74,000, with over 2,100 patients having died, according to China's health authorities.
