Japan PM defends school closure plan despite critics

Japan's prime minister on Friday defended his call for schools across the country to close over the new coronavirus, as the country confirmed a fifth death linked to the outbreak.

The call for school closures came as Japan steps up its response to the outbreak, with Tokyo's Disney resorts and Universal Studios Japan announcing they would close for around two weeks -- the latest in a string of closures and cancellations.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government had "received expert views that the coming one or two weeks are crucial".

"We have to prevent emergence of a new cluster of patients among children," he told parliament.

"We made this decision because we regard it as our political responsibility."
"My company doesn't offer teleworking, so I'm going to have to take days off," added another mother. "Financially, it's very hard."