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.

A Japanese woman infected with the coronavirus has told NHK that she lost her sense of taste and smell for about 10 days from the early onset of symptoms.

That comes after the World Health Organization said earlier this week that it had received a series of reports of similar cases.

A Japanese woman who has the coronavirus has told NHK that she initially thought she had caught a cold and didn't suspect her symptoms were caused by the virus.

The woman in her 20s is being treated at a hospital. She was found to be infected on Thursday last week.