Taxi driver confirmed as Okinawa’s first Wuhan coronavirus case

Woman might have transported Diamond Princess passenger

The Diamond Princess in Yokohama Thursday (Feb. 13) evening.  The Diamond Princess in Yokohama Thursday (Feb. 13) evening.  (AP photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A female taxi driver believed to have transported a passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise liner was confirmed Friday (Feb. 14) as the first case of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in the popular Japanese tourist destination of Okinawa.

More than 200 of the 3,700 passengers and crew members of the Diamond Princess, now isolated in Yokohama harbor near Tokyo, have been diagnosed with the virus, including one Taiwanese man in his 80s.

The ship had spent more than nine hours docked at Naha, the capital of Okinawa, on Feb. 1, CNA reported. That day, many passengers took either buses or taxis to visit the town.

The taxi driver, a woman in her 60s, might have come into contact with a passenger from the Diamond Princess on that occasion.

On Thursday (Feb. 13), Japan recorded its first fatality in the virus outbreak, the first death outside of China, Hong Kong, or the Philippines.