Japanese comedian dies of coronavirus

Veteran Japanese comedian Shimura Ken passed away on Sunday night at a hospital in Tokyo.

The 70-year-old comedy icon was found to have been infected with coronavirus and was being treated for pneumonia.

Ken Shimura was a veteran slapstick comedian and onetime member of rock ’n’ roll band and comedy group The Drifters, a household name in Japan in the 1970s and 1980s.

He was hospitalized on March 20 after developing a fever and being diagnosed with severe pneumonia.

He tested positive for the virus on March 23, becoming the first Japanese entertainment figure to announce an infection.

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