Reports: Japan leader rests after testing positive for COVID

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been diagnosed with the coronavirus and has canceled his planned travels while he recuperates

Japan Prime Minister COVID (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been diagnosed with the coronavirus Sunday and canceled his planned travels while he recuperates.

Kishida developed a fever and cough late Saturday and tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, Japanese media reports said. The prime minister’s office was not immediately available for comment.

The 65-year-old prime minister was on summer vacation last week and scheduled to return to work Monday. It’s not clear where or how he was infected.

Kishida won't go in person to a conference on African development later this month in Tunisia but will take part in it online, and he postponed his trip to the Middle East, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Cases of coronavirus infections have been surging recently in Japan, although most people — including Kishida — have been vaccinated. Other world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and recovered.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama