Three Japanese evacuated from Wuhan tested positive for coronavirus

Three Japanese nationals who are among more than 200 evacuated people from the Chinese city of Wuhan have been tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus, Japan's Health Ministry said on Thursday.

Two of these three people -- a man in his 40s and a woman in her 50s -- had not shown any symptoms of the disease, the ministry said, as reported by NHK world.

The three individuals were among the over 200 passengers who returned to Japan on Wednesday on a government-chartered flight.

Coronavirus originated in Wuhan, a Chinese city of more than 11 million people and has since then spread to various countries around the world. As many as 170 people have been killed, while over 1700 cases have been registered in China alone.

Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and several Asian countries besides China.