The US Department of State announced on Monday that 14 US nationals evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2020) The US Department of State announced on Monday that 14 US nationals evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus.
This is in addition to the 40 US citizens who stayed behind in Japan after testing positive for the COVID-19 infection before the evacuation proceedings.
"During the evacuation process, after passengers had disembarked from the ship and initiated transport to the airport, U.S. officials received notice that 14 passengers, who had been tested 2-3 days earlier, had tested positive for COVID-19," the State Department said in a statement published on Monday.
The statement went on to say that the infected passengers have been placed in special containment areas on the evacuation aircraft.
Altogether, some 300 US citizens have been evacuated off of the coronavirus-stricken luxury cruise ship, with 40 of them admitted into Japanese hospitals for medical attention.
The Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined off the Japanese port of Yokohama on February 3, where it is set to remain until at least February 19. There were initially 3,700 people aboard, with the number of infected growing daily.
