Japan's 4th evacuation flight lands from Wuhan

Japan's fourth chartered flight has returned to Tokyo from Wuhan, the epicentre of a viral outbreak in central China, carrying 198 Japanese evacuees and their Chinese spouses.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday that so far nobody was seen having obvious symptoms of the coronavirus infection.

He said they will be all screened at a hospital before being sent to a government facility near Tokyo for quarantine.

At 86, Japan now has the highest number of cases outside mainland China. On Friday, Japan reported 41 more cases aboard a quarantined cruise ship.