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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th February, 2020) The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday cautioned those planning to go to Japan to consider the risks of a growing coronavirus epidemic.

Japan has 938 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease, including 705 aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Eleven people died.

The northern island of Hokkaido declared a state of emergency after registering 66 cases.

"We recommend Russian citizens to consider this information when planning a trip to Japan," the Russian ministry said in an alert.

South Korea, Iran and Italy emerged this week as the fastest-growing clusters of coronavirus cases outside China, where the rate of infection has been in decline. Almost 84,000 have fallen ill with the new strain of coronavirus globally, most of them in China.