Beijing: Japan on Thursday reported its first case of a new coronavirus that has sickened 41 people in China, adding to concerns about the spread of the virus outside Chinese borders before a major holiday.

A Chinese man in his 30s has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the Japanese health ministry said Thursday. The man, who was a resident of Kanagawa prefecture, had returned to Japan on January 6 after travelling to the Chinese central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The man was hospitalised January 10, but was discharged five days later because he had recovered, according to the health ministry.

Japan's health ministry said the patient had not visited any seafood markets in China. The World Health Organisation had said it was highly likely that the virus had spread from a seafood market in Wuhan, which also sold live fish, animals and birds.

A vendor gives out copies of newspaper with a headline about the coronavirus in Hong Kong. Credit:AP

"It is possible that the patient had close contact with an unknown patient with lung inflammation while in China," Japan's health ministry said in a statement.