安倍首相「重症化防止に取り組む」　新型コロナ、国内初の死者で

　安倍晋三首相は１４日、新型コロナウイルス感染者の死亡が国内で初めて確認されたことについて「心からご冥福を祈り、遺族の皆さまにお悔やみ申し上げる」と述べた。その上で「各地の自治体と連携して検査体制の拡充、治療体制の充実を一層加速することで、感染の拡大を抑えるとともに感染者の重症化防止に取り組んでいく考えだ」と強調した。首相官邸で記者団に語った。
　菅義偉官房長官は記者会見で「国内で流行していると判断するに足る疫学的情報が集まっているわけではなく、感染経路を含め早急に情報を収集していく」と述べた。（2020/02/14-11:17）

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed efforts Friday to prevent patients infected with the new coronavirus from developing severe symptoms, following the first death the previous day of a patient with the virus in Japan.
   "I offer sincere prayers (for the coronavirus victim) and condolences to the bereaved family," Abe told reporters. "We'll make efforts to keep symptoms of infected patients from becoming severe while working to prevent further contagion (in Japan)," he stressed. The victim was a woman in her 80s in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.
   The prime minister said the government will improve virus tests and treatment for coronavirus patients through cooperation with local authorities.
   In Japan, a spate of coronavirus patients, including the Kanagawa woman, who have no recent histories of traveling to China or apparently have had no contact with those recently in China have been reported. The virus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
   Tohoku University Prof. Hitoshi Oshitani, a virology specialist, said efforts should now be poured into reducing the speed of contagion and treating severely ill patients, as a coronavirus epidemic is likely occurring to some extent in Japan.