3rd Group of passengers leaving virus-hit cruise ship in Japan

February 21, 2020

Tokyo--A third group of Diamond Princess passengers on Friday morning started leaving the cruise ship that has been quarantined at the port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, since early this month due to concern over possible coronavirus infections.

Up to about 450 passengers who do not show symptoms and have tested negative for the virus are expected to disembark on the day.

They are likely to be the last group of passengers to get off the Diamond Princess except for some foreign nationals and those who had close contact with infected people.

According to the Japanese health ministry, a total of 717 people, including some 630 Japanese, left the ship on Wednesday and Thursday.

The ministry is asking the passengers leaving the ship to check their health condition and avoid nonessential outings for the next two weeks.

About 1,000 people are expected to stay on the ship, including crew members, non-Japanese passengers waiting for government-chartered planes from their countries to fly them home and some 100 people who had close contact with infected people, according to the ministry.

As of early Friday morning, 759 non-Japanese passengers from the Diamond Princess had left Japan aboard planes chartered by the United States, South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, Israel and Canada, according to Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Hong Kong plans to send another flight and Japan is in talks with Britain, Italy and Taiwan about accepting their planes.

It is still undecided when crew members will disembark.

Those who had close contact with infected people need to be quarantined for 14 days from the last time they had contact with such people.

The Diamond Princess, which left Yokohama on Jan. 20, was quarantined when it arrived in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa on Feb. 1.

But the quarantine clearance was invalidated due to the discovery that a man who got off the ship in Hong Kong on Jan. 25 had the virus. The ship has been quarantined again since it arrived back in Yokohama on the night of Feb. 3.

Passengers were asked to stay in their cabins for 14 days after 10 people on the ship were found infected with the COVID-19 virus on Feb. 5.

Last Saturday, the ministry announced plans to screen all passengers for the virus and allow them to leave the ship starting Wednesday if they tested negative.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases on the ship stands at over 600. Two infected Japanese passengers in their 80s died Thursday. Jiji Press