Japan confirms 65 more virus cases on quarantined ship

February 11, 2020

Tokyo--The Japanese health ministry said Monday that it has confirmed 65 more cases of the new coronavirus on a cruise liner quarantined off the country.

This brought the total number of confirmed cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship to 135.

The total number of confirmed cases in Japan rose to 161.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato told a press conference that his ministry is considering testing all 3,600 passengers and crew members on the ship for the virus, starting as early as Feb. 19 following a 14-day quarantine period.

They are expected to be allowed to disembark from the ship after the results of the virus tests become available.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government will make a decision on such tests after considering the situation on the ship.

The ministry initially conducted genetic tests for 273 people who had such symptoms as coughing and fever, as well as those who spent long periods close to people with the symptoms.

But the ministry later found that there were more people that needed to be screened, carrying out additional tests on people who had developed symptoms recently and crew members.

The ship arrived at the port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, just south of Tokyo, on Feb. 3. It has since been quarantined as a man who had left the ship in Hong Kong was found to be infected with the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China. Jiji Press