Japan confirms another 41 on quarantined cruise ship tested positive for coronavirus

Amid coronavirus outbreak, Japan on February 7 reportedly said that another 41 people on the quarantined cruise ship, Diamond Princess, have been tested positive for the virus. According to international media reports, approximately 3,700 people are on the cruise ship in Yokohoma for at least two weeks now and the new cases have raised the number of confirmed infections on board to at least 61. Japan's Health Minister, Katsunobu Kato reportedly said the authorities have tested 273 people and the cruise ship could remain quarantined until February 19. 

Diamond Princess was reportedly anchored off after an 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong was detected with flu-like symptoms. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also told an international media outlet that the health screening was commenced by several dozen quarantine officers onboard the vessel that quarantined 2,666 passengers and 1,045 staff members. Further, it was also reported that there are passengers from approximately 56 countries and they all are feared to have been infected with the Wuhan 2019-nCoV as they were in close proximity with each other.

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Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had reportedly told the media earlier on Monday that Japan would coordinate with the World Health Organisation to curb the contagion outbreak in Tokyo that might impact the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics due to be held this year. He said that the Japanese government was stepping up the containment measures to stem the virus spread that originated in the Hubei province, China. 

'Global Health Emergency'

The deadly virus has already claimed at least 636 lives in China and has also infected nearly 30,000 people across the country. The outbreak took place in Wuhan in January and multiple countries have started evacuating their citizens from the country, and have decided to restrict the entry of foreigners returning from China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus as a 'global public health emergency'.

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In order to tackle the spreading virus, WHO stated that the international community has further launched a USD 675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020. Earlier, WHO had also warned the international public health authorities that the Wuhan Virus was of a significant threat to the nations outside mainland China and the disease's pandemic nature enforced a global response to the outbreak. Authorities also banned Chinese nationals from travelling into their territory, suspending airlines and halting the visa issuance as well as immigration facility.

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