More people return from Wuhan, Japan to strengthen quarantine from from Feb. 1

A third chartered plane carrying 149 Japanese nationals from Wuhan also arrived Japan's Haneda Airport on Friday. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the date the new coronavirus would be considered as a "designated infectious disease" would be brought forward to Saturday after taking into consideration of the World Health Organization's declaration of the situation as a public health emergency of international concern.

Abe said the government would swiftly consider how it could strengthen immigration controls even if they could not detect any symptoms on individuals arriving in Japan. The government has also said it plans to use public facilities, such as training centers to house the returnees and monitor the health of all returnees for up to two weeks. The new coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan has spread to more than 9,800 people globally, surpassing the total from the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. The new virus has killed 213 people.