TOKYO, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Another 65 people aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the health ministry said, bringing the total number of known infections to 135.
The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the
Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former
passenger who got off the ship last month in Hong Kong.
“Test results from 103 people have now come out and 65 of them are
confirmed positive for the new coronavirus,” the ministry said in a
statement.
Four of the 65 patients had been sent to hospital, a ministry official
told reporters, adding that more test results were pending.
The cruise ship operator said 66 people had been newly diagnosed, mostly
Japanese, but there were also Australians, Filipinos, a Canadian, a Briton
and a Ukrainian. There was no immediate clarity on the discrepancy between that figure and the health ministry.
When the boat arrived off Japan, authorities initially tested nearly 300
people for the virus of the 3,711 on board, gradually evacuating dozens who
were infected to local medical facilities.
The number of passengers and crew on board has since declined to 3,622,
the ministry official said.
The ship is expected to stay in quarantine until Feb 19 — 14 days
after the isolation period began.
The health ministry said Monday that around 600 people on board urgently
needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters that discussions were
ongoing about how to increase testing capacity and also whether testing would take place after passengers are released from quarantine.
“The quarantine period of the #DiamondPrincess will come to an end on 19
February,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a tweet.
“The period will be extended beyond the 19 Feb as appropriate only for
close contacts of newly confirmed cases. They need to remain in quarantine
for 14 days from last contact with a confirmed case.”
There are 26 confirmed cases of the new virus in Japan apart from the
infections on board the ship, among them citizens evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak emerged.
Japan is planning to send a fifth evacuation flight to Wuhan later this
week, local media said. — NNN-AGENCIES
