Abe: cruise ship quarantine to end Wednesday

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday convened a meeting with medical and scientific experts to discuss measures to contain the spread of a new virus that has sickened thousands in the region.

Vowing to take a "proactive initiative" the Prime Minister and said that his government would not be "constrained by precedence" in its attempt to contain the virus.

Separately, during a government task force meeting on the novel coronavirus, Abe confirmed that passengers of the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship will be able to end leave the ship on February 19 after a final health check.

The United States has deployed chartered flights to Japan to evacuate its citizens from the ship, which are scheduled to depart in the early hours of Monday, he said.

As of Sunday, Japan had 412 cases of the virus, including 355 from the cruise ship, and one death.