According to The Japan Times, actress and voice actress Kumiko Okae passed away on Thursday due to pneumonia caused by the coronavirus.

Kumiko Okae (whose real name is Kumiko Owada) performed mostly live-action roles, but also voiced Haru’s mother in the Studio Ghibli film The Cat Returns.

Okae has been an active actress since 1975, and has had roles as recently as last year. Her other notable roles include hosting the show Hanamaru Market from 1996 to 2014, and the 2012 drama Lucky Seven.

In January of this year, Okae began undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer. This is after surgery was already performed last year for the same condition. She was rushed to the hospital after becoming feverish on April 3rd and had remained hospitalized since.

Okae is survived by her husband Baku Owada (69), and eldest daughter Miho Owada (39) who is also an actress. Neither of the two have shown any symptoms of coronavirus and have remained home since Okae’s hospitalization on April 3rd.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic (also known as COVID-19 officially, or Chinese Flu to others) has affected many worldwide, from businesses to public gatherings and events. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

This includes the postponement of GDC, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, along with the cancellation of E3 2020 (including digital events), the physical event for Gamescom 2020, and Comiket 98.

We also reported on Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris being delayed due to the pandemic hindering development, along with EMS and Airmail shipments from Japan to the US ceasing– starting today.

The Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering are mapping the virus’ spread [1, 2]. As of this time of writing, there have been over 2.735 million total confirmed cases worldwide, and over 1.792 million active cases. There have been over 192,000 deaths, however over 751,000 people have made a “total recovery.”

Japan have had over 12,368 cases (10,546 active cases), 328 deaths, and 1,494 recoveries.

Image: Anime News Network