Uninfected Passengers Seen Leaving Cruise Ship by Fri.

Tokyo, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)--Passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship who have tested negative for the new coronavirus will get off the vessel from Wednesday as planned, the health ministry said Tuesday. It is expected to take until Friday for all such passengers to disembark from the ship, quarantined at the port of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. A total of about 3,180 passengers and crew members were still on the ship as of Monday. According to the ministry, the disembarkation is slated to start around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. About 500 people, including elderly Japanese, will leave the ship on the day, and they will be allowed to return to their homes using public transportation means. The ministry will ask them to take care of their health in normal ways after their return home. With regard to people who had close contact with those newly confirmed to have the virus, the dates of disembarkation will be decided individually based on their health conditions. Also on Tuesday, 88 more people on the ship were confirmed to be infected with the virus, with the total number of people carrying the coronavirus rising to 542. Of them, 25 are in serious conditions. The virus test has been conducted on a total of 2,404 passengers and crew members. The Diamond Princess arrived off Daikoku Pier at the port on the night of Feb. 3, with 3,711 people--2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members--aboard. The cruise ship was initially quarantined when it arrived in Naha, the capital of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa, on Feb. 1. But the quarantine clearance was revoked after a Hong Kong man who left the ship earlier was found to be infected with the virus. On Saturday, the ministry said that all passengers will be tested for the virus and that those showing negative results will be allowed to get off the ship on Wednesday or later, after the end of a health-monitoring period. Samples for the virus test have already been collected from all passengers. The test results will become available within Wednesday. Disembarkation started Friday for passengers aged 80 or over with chronic diseases who have tested negative for the virus. Meanwhile, school operator Fujita Academy in the city of Toyoake, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, is set to accept Diamond Princess passengers who have tested positive for the virus but have not developed symptoms at its Fujita Health University Okazaki Medical Center in the city of Okazaki in the same prefecture. The medical center, set to open in April, can accommodate up to 200 people, informed sources said. After being asked by the health ministry to accept infected passengers at the new hospital, Fujita Academy discussed the request with the Aichi prefectural government and other parties concerned. At the center, passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess can receive health consultations from doctors and nurses. As the hospital cannot offer medical services before its opening, however, patients with serious symptoms will be transferred to medical institutions designated for infectious disease treatment in the prefecture, according to the sources. END