New Delhi (NVI): A luxury vacation turned into a nightmare for thousands of passengers on a Japan cruise ship as ten of them were tested positive for novel coronavirus, the deadly infection that has claimed over 400 lives in China, the country of its origin.
Initial results have shown that Nine passengers and one crew member have been found infected by the virus, as many others are stuck on the luxury cruise Diamond Prince off the Japanese coast of Yokohama.
The ship, carrying 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members, arrived in Yokohama on Wednesday, but the authorities did not allow anyone off, foreign media reports said. An 80-year-old Hong Kong resident, who had disembarked earlier in his home city, was found to be infected.
Princess Cruises, the operator of the vessel, has said that the infected passengers were from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, in addition to one crew member from the Philippines.
Apart from this, the death toll from the month-long coronavirus outbreak has continued to climb in China, rising to 490 as per latest reports. New cases have surged by double-digit percentages in the past 11 days.
The new figures from China’s Health Commission today showed that 65 people died on Tuesday and that 3,887 more people had been infected. So far, 24,324 people are known to have been infected.
Countries outside China continue to report more cases, with Hong Kong and the Philippines reporting one death each from the disease.
Officials in the Chinese city of Macau also have asked its 41 casinos to close for half a month as they rush to stop the coronavirus outbreak afflicting China and the region. The decision comes after 10 people in Macau had been sickened by the pneumonialike illness.
