Japan's central government debt stood at 1,343.84 trillion yen (about 8.58 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of March, hitting a record high for the 10th consecutive year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed Friday.
The debt level rose 20.13 trillion yen from the end of the previous fiscal year.
A breakdown shows that outstanding government bonds amounted to 1,207.22 trillion yen, up 24.33 trillion yen, while borrowings stood at 44.32 trillion yen and short-term financing bills totaled 92.3 trillion yen.
Kyodo News reported that Japan's government continues to rely heavily on debt to finance its operations as rising prices and higher interest rates drive up policy-based expenditure.
Meanwhile, under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's so-called "responsible and proactive public finances," moves such as compiling supplementary budgets and issuing additional government bonds to address inflation have further added to the country's debt burden.
Japan gov't debt hits record high for 10th straight year
Spanish health authorities on Friday identified a second monitored contact linked to the hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship MV Hondius after tracing a woman living in Catalonia who had shared a flight with a Dutch traveler died from the virus.
Spain's Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies said the woman is asymptomatic and was initially missed during contact tracing because of a seat change on the aircraft.
According to health authorities, the woman now meets the criteria for monitored contact under a newly approved national surveillance protocol and will remain under medical observation.
This came after the suspected case of hantavirus detected in Alicante. Spanish Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said on Friday that the health authorities had taken relevant measures.
In addition, Padilla confirmed that all 14 Spanish passengers aboard the MV Hondius had agreed to undergo voluntary quarantine measures in order to minimize the risk of further transmission.
The Dutch-operated expedition cruise ship, currently heading toward Spain's Canary Islands, has so far been linked to three deaths.
Padilla said a team from the Spanish Health Ministry would travel to Tenerife on Saturday ahead of the ship's expected arrival on Sunday.
Passengers are expected to disembark by small boats before being transferred under strict isolation measures. Spanish citizens aboard the vessel will be transported to Madrid for quarantine observation.
The British Health Security Agency announced Friday that a suspected hantavirus case has been detected on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, linked to the ongoing outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.
The vessel stopped at Tristan da Cunha between April 13 and 15.
Spain identifies second suspected hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak
