Japanese man who threatened to spread coronavirus dies

A 57-year-old man in Japan who had threatened to "scatter" his disease after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier this month died in hospital on Wednesday, local media reported.

Media had reported last week that local health authorities in Gamagori city, Aichi prefecture, had instructed the man to remain at home after he tested positive on March 4. That evening, the man told his family that he was going to "scatter the virus" and headed to an izakaya pub and a hostess bar, media said.

He was hospitalised on March 5, media said.

The man had been under investigation for alleged obstruction of business after both establishments suspended business, Kyodo News reported. A woman who worked at the hostess bar tested positive for the coronavirus on March 12, it said.