After first death, Japan pledges more containment effort; cases increase

FILE PHOTO: A taxi driver wearing a surgical mask sits inside a taxi in front of Yokohama station in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Friday vowed to step up testing and efforts to contain the spread of a new coronavirus after suffering its first death and finding new cases, including a doctor and at least one taxi driver, in different parts of the country.

The biggest cluster of coronavirus infections outside China is linked to a cruise liner quarantined in a Japanese port, with 218 people from the ship confirmed as infected and taken off to hospital.