Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second left, speaks at a meeting against a new coronavirus, at his official residence in Tokyo Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. Abe on Thursday announced a series of measures totaling 15.3 billion yen to deal with the spread of coronavirus. (Yoshitaka Sugawara/Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second left, speaks at a meeting against a new coronavirus, at his official residence in Tokyo Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. Abe on Thursday announced a series of measures totaling 15.3 billion yen to deal with the spread of coronavirus. (Yoshitaka Sugawara/Kyodo News via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s health ministry says a woman infected with the new virus has died, becoming the country’s first confirmed fatality.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato announced Thursday that the victim is a woman in her 80s who had been treated at a hospital near Tokyo since early February after developing symptoms. Her infection was confirmed after her death.

Japan has confirmed 247 cases of the virus, including 218 from a cruise ship quarantined at the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo, amid growing fears of the spreading virus.