Another Indian crew member has tested positive for the novel coronavirus on board a British cruise ship quarantined near the port city of Yokohama in Japan, the Indian Embassy in Tokyo said on Wednesday. With this, seven Indians on the Diamond Princess have now tested positive for COVID-19 – the official name of the virus.
“One Indian crew who tested positive for COVID-19 among 88 new cases on Diamond Princess shifted to hospital for treatment,” the embassy tweeted. “Indians receiving treatment responding well to the treatment. From today, the disembarkation of passengers only started, likely to continue till February 21.”
The number of people infected with coronavirus on the cruise ship rose to 621 on Wednesday as passengers began disembarking following a contentious two-week quarantine, AFP reported. Japan’s health ministry said it had discovered 79 additional cases.
There are 138 Indians, including six passengers and 132 crew members, on the ship. The United States had evacuated more than 300 citizens from the ship on Monday, and more countries are following suit.
The ship originally carried some 3,700 passengers and crew. Many of the infected people have been taken to hospital. About half the passengers are Japanese.
The toll from the coronavirus in China has crossed 2,000, although the number of new cases fell for a second straight day on Tuesday. The coronavirus is considered to have originated in a live seafood market in the province’s Wuhan city. Infection symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. It causes respiratory illness, and is similar to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which had also emerged from China in 2002. SARS killed 774 people around the world.
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