Japan cruise ship coronavirus infections soar to 130, with 60 new cases

YOKOHAMA: The number of coronavirus infected people aboard a cruise ship in Japan’s Yokohama has reached to 130, a foreign news agency reported on Monday.

Sixty more people aboard the ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise ship in Yokohama have become infected with the coronavirus, adding to the 70 already confirmed patients, official sources said today.

The government is mulling over testing all crew members and passengers on the vessel for the new coronavirus, the country’s health minister Katsunobu Kato has said.

The people on board will be allowed to leave the cruise ship only after all test results are known, the minister said.

Five crew members and one passenger including four Filipinos, one American and one Ukrainian were confirmed on Sunday to have caught the virus but were not showing any serious symptoms, a health ministry spokesperson said.

The ministry has tested 336 potentially infected people from total 3,700 passengers and crew on the Japan’s cruise ship, spokesperson said.

The government is also working on a request to get medication to those on board who are suffering from other serious conditions or illnesses, health minister said.

The overall number of infected people in Japan now stands around 160, including 10 people who were evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.

The infected people also included 16 tourists and a tour bus driver, officials said.