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Japan’s PM Kishida isolates with COVID-19, cancels travels

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FILE - Japan\'s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, speaks to media at the Prime Minister\'s official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, July 8, 2022. Kishida has tested positive for for COVID-19 on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, FILE)

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and canceled his planned travels while he isolates and recuperates.

Kishida developed a slight fever and cough late Saturday and a PCR test for the coronavirus was positive, said Noriyuki Shikata, the cabinet secretary for public affairs at the prime minister’s office.

“Prime Minister Kishida is isolated inside his residence,” he told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The 65-year-old prime minister was on summer vacation last week and was 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 participate online. He also postponed his trip to the Middle East.

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

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