Japan: First group of passengers not infected by Coronavirus disembark cruise ship

The first group of passengers who were not infected by the virulent Coronavirus left a quarantined cruise ship off Japan's coast on February 14 and moved to government-designated lodging after testing negative, according to the reports. Japan's government has given a chance for the passengers aged 80 or older in poor health or confined to windowless inner cabins on the cruise ship to step out from the ship. As per the reports, the first group of people departed the massive cruise liner on Friday afternoon, travelling in buses with blacked-out windows.

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Number of people infected on ship rises

A government official said that 11 people had left but declined to comment whether more would depart on Friday or offer further details. This step comes a day after number of infections on the ship spiked up to 218. A senior health ministry official Gaku Hashimoto boarded the ship on Friday morning to announce that all passengers who are considered to be high risk in general health would now be tested for virus. He added that those who test positive will be immediately transferred to the hospital. The official added that those who test negative will be disembarked and will be transferred to accommodation provided by the government. 

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China confirms 5000 new cases

China has confirmed more than 5000 new cases of deadly Coronavirus outbreak on February 14, according to the reports. China’s National Health Commission said it had recorded 121 new deaths and 5,090 new coronavirus cases on the mainland on February 13, taking the total infected tally to 64,434 people.

Nearly 55,748 people are currently undergoing treatment at various hospitals across the country and 1383 people have died from the novel Coronavirus outbreak that has emerged in Hubei province’s capital, Wuhan, in January.

The hard-hit Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, has reported 116 new fatalities and reported 4,823 new confirmed cases on Thursday, the provincial health commission said. The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in Hubei province to 51,986, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

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