Japan's former transport minister Hata Yuichiro, who died on Sunday at the age of 53, has become the first incumbent lawmaker in the country to die of the coronavirus.
Hata developed a fever on Thursday and was due to take a PCR test on Sunday. His condition deteriorated suddenly while on his way to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A man in the Japanese city of Hiroshima waiting to be hospitalized for coronavirus infection experienced a rapid deterioration of his condition at home and died there.
Hiroshima officials held a news conference on Sunday to explain what happened. They said the man in his 60s tested positive for the coronavirus on December 13 after having been determined to have had close contact with another virus-carrier.
Paris-based fashion designer Takada Kenzo, founder of the global brand KENZO, has died after contracting the coronavirus. He was 81.
His office in Japan says Takada has been in hospital near Paris since he was infected in mid-September. It says his condition deteriorated earlier this month and died at around 4 p.m. on Sunday, French time.
Another Japanese celebrity fell victim to the coronavirus on Thursday. Actress Okae Kumiko died of pneumonia caused by COVID-19 at a hospital in Tokyo. She was 63.
Okae was born in Tokyo and made her debut in a TV drama in 1975. She appeared in many dramas and variety shows, gaining popularity from a wide range of age groups.