Was an 84yearold woman. She didnt have any preexisting conditions. During the news conference, a Health Ministry official was asked whether keeping elderly passengers on the cruise ship increased their risk of getting infected. Heres what he had to say. Translator we believe we handled thehe situationon appropriately. We transferred the two passengers too hospitals as soo as w we learned they hahad a fe. That was before we even had their test resesults. The death toll of people infected with the virus in japan now stands at three. Hundreds of passengers left the cruise ship on thursday, after testing negative for the virus. Im still worried about getting infected, so i will continue wearing a mask and using help. I got information from email and talking to my kids but i cannot get any updates from the japanese government. More than a thousand people now remain on board. Many of woman are crew members. The ship is the largest hot spot forr Coronavirus Infections outside china. 621 people have been confirmemed to be infected. D. On thursday, two government staffers in their 30s and 40s who were working on the ship have tested positive. Anyone who shared a cabin with an infected passenger will stay on the ship for further quarantine. At the same time, some governments are flying their citizezens home. Planes sent by italy and canada are standing by at tokyos haneda airportrt to briring bac diamond princess passengers. The u. K. And taiwan plan to take similar steps. Health experts around the world are now evaluating the effectiveness of the quarantine. Some say the virus prevention measures on board the ship werent good enough. But the w. H. O. Says its too soon to know, as experts wait to discover more about the virus. W. H. O. Senior epidemiologist Matthew Griffith is a technical adviser who has been analyzing epidemics and advdvising the japanese officials. He said d the virus is a a movi target, making it difficult to collect information on it, and treat people at t e same time. Nobodys had to deal with this situation before. It is a new corononavirusus aew virus on board a ship with 4,000 people. And there arere no guidelines f that. There are noo prioror experienc fo that. Criticism has been building both in japan and internationally. Some medical experts have questioned whether the diamond princess should have been quarantined for two weeks after arriving in yokohama. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases reported that the new coronavirus continued to spread on board even after the passengers were told to stay in their cabins as a quarantine measure. Griffith said quite a few passengers were likely infected before the measures were enacted. S so prior to arrrriving in yoyokohama, there was an increa in the number of phone calls to the clinic or visits t to the clinic on n the ship specifical rerelated to fevever. I think itits really impoportao understand that ththere was probably a substantial amount of transmission on the ship prior toto arriving in yokohama. Another criticism has focused on whether Health Authorities took enough measures to isolate people. Due to the nature of the ship, it was not possiblble to isolate every person individually. I mean, whwhen the ship arrived there were almlmost 4,000 oplel on it, and there just werent enough facililities available t individually isolate people. Griffith noted that decisions over quarantines are always a balance between caution and feasibility. Bubut he added that the world i in uncharted territory and that the unprecedented nature of the coronavirus means it will take time for experts to know the best path forward. Elsewhere in japan Health Authorities confirmed seven new cases on thursday. That brings the total number of patients outside passengers and crews from the ship to over 90. Among the new cases, a man in his 80s has tested positive in kanagawa. He had been stage at a hospital where an elderly woman who died from the virus had received care. And a man in his 60s became the first patient in the region. The Japan NationalTourism Organization has opened a hot line for foreign visitors. Staff are offering information 24 7 in japanese, chinese, english, and korean. The number is 05038162787. Once again, the number is 05038162787. Some prefectures with confirmed coronavirus is offering information in multiple languages. Scan the qr code on the screen for the nhk web site and find Contact Information for relevant authorities. In nearby south korea, authorities have announced the countrys first death from the virus. The News Agency Says the patient died on thursday, at a hospital in the southeastern city. The nation has reported more than 100 cases of infections. In Mainland China, the National Health commission confirmed 394 cases on wednesday, well below 1,000 reported daily since the end of january. However, these latest numbers do not include patients whose infections were confirmed using diagnostic methods rather than testing kits. Its been a month since chinese officials first rolled out heightened measures to combat the virus, and the nonstop pace is taking a toll on hohospitals. Over the past month, a number of confirmed infections in china rose from 200 to nearly 75,000. The death toll has topped 2,100. Officials say that included more than 50,000 medical staff mainly believed to have contracted the virus at hospitals. The current medical system seems to be having dififficulty copin with the rapid increase in patients. Medical supplies including protective gear are running low, and medidical works arare growi exhausted as they work flat out to deal with cases of infection. Authorities in Hubei Province where most cases are being confirmed are now struggling to secure sufficient medical supplies. Outside of Mainland China and japan, there have been more than 460 coronavirus virus cases reported across dozens of countries and territories. Two people have died in hong kong and one each in the philippines, france and taiwan. Japan has also confirmed three deaths including the two passengers from the diamond princess. The u. S. And Chinese Governments are at odds over the way the coronaVirus Outbreak has been reported. China expelled three correspondents from the wall street journal, and that has now drawn condemnation from the u. S. Secretary of state. The wall street journal ran a piece describing china as the real sick man of asia. China denounced the piece as racist and revoked the credentials of three reporters. That drew condemnation in a statement from u. S. Secretary of state mike pompeo. He said mature responsible countries understand that a free press reports facts and expresses opinions. The United States and china were also at odds over news reporting earlier this week. The u. S. State department declared five Chinese Media outlets to be operatives of their government. It said they must now register personal information about their reporters. For more than three years, an uighur muslim woman living in turkey has not been able to contact her sisters after a leaked internal document reported from within the Chinese Government was releleased this week, she believeves she knows why. Rosinza ved d fr tururkey from autotonomous r region inin chin nearly 20 yearars ago. Her family remained behind. She began to worry after communications were cut off and now she says that her fears have been confirmed. A data base containing the names of 311 uighur muslims detained was obtained by the media including nhk. Two of her sisters were on the list. It says the reason for their detentions were applying for a passport and violatingng the bih control l policy. Transtotor theeaeasons for tentioion arnonsense. What the chinese governmt t is doing is torture, and d a crack dodown against uighurs. The United Nations says around a million uighurs and other muslims are being held in government camps. Human Rights Groups says china forcing them to give up their religion, language, and culture. China calls them Vocational Training centers. The countrys Foreign Ministry says there are no religious and human rights issues. It has repeatedly justified the governments policies saying its an effort to uproot terrorism and to prevent people from becoming radicalized. But mammatati isnt buying that explananation. Transtotor many y countries know whachchina is doioing but haveept silent. I would like thehem to change ththr stance andnd help us with this difficucult situation. If they y nt help u plelease pray for us. She says she does not know whether her sisters are still in detention. She says she is speaking out despspite the risksks because s hoping it will lead to more information on their whereabouts. Jefrm German Police say nine people were shot dead in a western city and they later found the suspected shooters body and the body of another person at the suspects house. The shootings reportedly took place at two shisha bars starting at 10 00 p. M. The mototive for the shootings remains unclear, but germanys state minister says the shooter had xenophobicc motives. The bars are known to be freqequented by people of middl eastern and south asian descent. It is 20 kilometeters east off frankfurt t and has a populatio of around 100,000. Diplomatic relations between tokyo and seoul have sououred i rececent years due to trade isss and an ongoing wartime labor dispute. It has led to a steep drop in south korean tourists to japan. And as nhk world explains, it has also thrown a wrench into south koreas top baseball league. Clear water, warm weather, and good food, it has been the perfect destination for people hoping to escape thehe w winter doldrum for years. The prefecture is also the ideal location for spring training for some of south koreas baseball teams. Last year, seven of the leagues ten teams spent time in okinawa, practicingng and competiting alongside the japanese teams but this year is completely different. Why has the south korean held the spring training for over two decade, but this year, they cowtowed it. In total, five of the seven teams decided not to return. Some south korean baseball teams are reportedly are told there will be a backlash from japan if they train in okinawa this year. At the heart of the situation is a series of rulings in 2018 by south koreas court, ordering japanese firms to compensate people who say they were forced to work during world war ii. Japan maintains the issue of the right to claim compensation was overturned by a 1965 ruling. Since then, japan has tightened controls to south korea, and in response, south korea began boycotting japanese products. The result has beeeen that the area has been hit especially hard and local Officials Say there are usually three or four times the number of people on the street at this time of the year. We trusted each other, and had a good relationship, so it is very ve regrettable. I like south Korean People and peopople in asia very much and want to get along with them more. One of the two teams that decided to return to okinawa this year was here, where the mayor came late last year to the sway the lions top brass. I would like to thank the village mayor for convincing us to come, like we have for the past 15 years. And i hope a lot of fans share a thought. We are very grateful for the team coming to our village this year despite the other cancellations. Now in the middle of training, the lions season starts next month. And many are hoping the sport can transgress politics. Its time now for World Weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. Hello. So dry and relatively warm weather is continuing in tokyo. Will it stay that way going into the threeday weekend . Sunday and monday will be sunny but on saturday, we might see some rainfall. Temperaturewise, it is going to be staying pretty warm. Take a look at the forecast for the next seven days or so. Tokyo, 13. On friday. Up to 18 on saturday. Thats about seven to eight Degrees Higher than normal for this time of the year. And it could be more like april on saturday. And then staying pretty warm into next week. Sendai, warmer temperatures especially on saturday. Northern japan will see unusually warm weather, and there may also be flooding so watch out for that. Thanks to the warm weather, the Cherry Blossoms are expected to start blooming much earlier than normal for tokyo, the flowers will begin blooming on march 17th, nine days earlier than normal, and it could be, if its one day earlier, it could be the record. Now, we will see march 31st in sendai, that is 11 days earlier than normal. It looks like the Cherry Blossom season will come much earlier than average many places of the country. Meanwhile blowing snow still occucurring in parts of hokkaid but that is expected to ease. Down towards the southern hemisphere, we have a system nearby australia that will likely intensify to a Tropical Cyclone and likely make land fall on the northern coast of the northern career to as we go into mondayay. It i is expecected to dump copi amounts of heavy rain and powerful winds, as we go into next week. Meanwhile, we are looking at rainfall in parts of new zealand. The system is the same one which caused heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across southeastern places of australia, including sidney. Meanwhile, we have a system across the north, and that is expected to move away from canada, but in montreal, on wednesday, two people are killed, and many people are injured, because of a car pileup that involved nearly 200 vehicles, and temperatures remain on the chilly side, especially on your friday morning. And the temperatures could be down to minus 18 degrees. Thats nearly five degrees colder than normal for this time of the year. Warming up significantly as we go into saturday, but friday, it is going to be very chilly, and with strong winds, you can feel like minus 22 degrees or so, thats not good at all, because wind chill values below 25 degrees celsius can cause frostbite in 30 minutes or so. Cover your skin to avoid frosostbite and hypothermia. In canada, quite low temperatures and dry conditions. Thats i it for r me. Have a nice day. And thats all for this edition of nhk newsline, thank you for watching. And do stay with us for more. Chinas central bank has lowered the bench mark rate by 0. 1 percentage point. Its the latest move to help businesses weather the outbreak. The peoples bank of china announced that this months loan prime rate is 4. 05 , marking the first rate cut in three months. The ldr is the, the lpr rather, is the yardstick for lenders to give loans to businesses. The Virus Outbreak has forced closures in the countrys service sectors. Many manufacturers are reopening plants and they are struggling to pay wages and they hope companies will help raise funds amid the changes. And there will be changes in premiums and granting moratoriums on interest payments. This is newsline biz, im gene otani. Indonesias bank has responded to the outbreak by cutting the key Interest Rate for the first time in four months. On thursday, the bank trimmed the bench mark sevenday reverse repurchase rate by a quarter of a point to 4. 75 . Policy makers say they are aiming to preempt any economic fallout from the Public Health crisis. Last year, indonesias economy grew at just over 5 . The slowest pace in four years. The big factor was sluggish exports to china caused by the trade dispute between beijing and washington. The drop in crude Oil Prices Also took a toll. Japanese retailer, in talks to acquire a u. S. Refinerys chain of gas stations. Sources say the 711 owners is in final stage of talks with Marathon Petroleum corporation. The deal could be worth 22 billion. The speedway gas stations number about 4,000 in the u. S. They also feature Convenience Stores. The japanese retailer is apparently aiming to strengthen the overseas business by expands its u. S. Network amid weak Growth Prospects for japanese retailing. Seven i officicials s say thee looking at various Growth Strategies including partnerships and acquisitions. Convenience store chain operator family mart says one in seven employees will take up an early retirement offer. The company has been trying to trim its head count to lower expenses. Family mart does 1,025 employees ages 40 and over at the headquarters will leave the company at the end of march, more than the target of 800. The company is trying to unlock funds to support stores that are struggling with severe staff shortages. Family mart says the Early Retirement Program will enable it to slash annual personnel spending, and many Convenience Stores in japan are also looking at no longer staying open for 24 hours. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is planning a Major Overhaul in a bid to attract investors and analysts say the changes will be tough on companies with weak results. The tse plans to streamline the exchange from four sections to three in two years. Currently, poorlyperforming companies on the first section can move to thee second section anand remain publicly traded. This will change after the reorganization. Underperforming firms that no longer meet the listing criteria will instead be removed. If the Companies Want to move to another section, they must pass its screening. The tse hopes the new rules will make its listings more appealing to investors. Automakers and other f