Health Minister Katsunobu Kato has disclosed plans to step up measures at ports of entry from China to prevent the spread of infections caused by a new strain of the coronavirus.

Questionnaires about symptoms will be distributed to passengers arriving on flights from Wuhan, China, where the deadly outbreak began.

Quarantine officials at a port near Tokyo have conducted a drill aimed at preventing the new coronavirus linked to a pneumonia outbreak in China from spreading in Japan.

About 100 personnel, including officials from the Yokohama quarantine station, Japan Coast Guard and police, took part in the exercise in Yokohama Bay.

Narita Airport outside Tokyo is tightening quarantine controls after Japanese health authorities confirmed the first case of infection of a new coronavirus linked to a pneumonia outbreak in China.

The new coronavirus was detected in a resident of Japan who had visited the Chinese city of Wuhan.