Japan quarantines cruise ship after passenger tests positive for coronavirus

In a bid to take preventive measures, Japan has quarantined a cruise ship carrying 3711 people and was examining those onboard amid coronavirus outbreak on February 4 after a former passenger was diagnosed with the illness in Hong Kong. At least eight people aboard the vessel, which arrived at Yokohama Bay on Monday, have shown symptoms such as fever, according to government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga. A CCTV footage showed that several quarantine officials boarding the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the port of Yokohama on Monday evening to keep a curb on 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew.

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425 died, more than 20,000 infected

The action was taken after an 80-year-old passenger who got off the ship on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus, which has claimed nearly 425 lives and infected more than 20000 people. The cruise authorities reportedly said in a statement that the man did not visit a medical centre inside the ship while he was sailing. The statement added that his condition is stable and the infection was not found among his family members who sailed with him.

Suga said the cruise ship went through a quarantine procedure on Saturday at a port in Naha in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa and the quarantine officials had issued certificates allowing passengers and crew to land. An official from the health ministry reportedly said that no one on board at that time showed any symptoms and the case of the man who disembarked in Hong Kong was not known at that time. 

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20 people tested positive in Japan: Health Ministry

According to the health ministry, 20 people in Japan have tested positive for the new virus, out of which four of them showed no symptoms. Japan has jetted off more than 500 nationals out of Wuhan, which is believed to be the epicentre of the deadly virus.
The death toll in China due to the deadly Coronavirus has touched 425, as per the latest government reports. The Chinese government reported that 64 more people had died on Monday, leading to the crisis worsening.

The government also reported that the number of people infected had crossed 20,400 across the country. Multiple countries across the world have not only started evacuating its citizens from the country but have also started applying travel restrictions on Chinese nationals and those coming from the country. 

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