Coronavirus: 10 passengers stuck on Diamond Princess cruise ship infected, raising Japan tally to 35

The 10 confirmed infections on the Diamond Princess raised Japan’s tally of cases to 35. The confirmed cases were in their 50s to 80s. Three are Japanese, three are Chinese and two are Australian. There is also one American and one Filipino.

Separately, public broadcaster NHK said an additional two people had tested positive in Japan. One was a man in his 40s who was visiting Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, from Wuhan. The other was a man in his 20s who lives in Kyoto. He had not been to China but had contacts with Chinese tourists as he worked in hospitality industry, NHK said.

The confirmed cases on board the Diamond Princess were among 31 results from 273 people tested so far, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told a news conference. He said all the 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members on board the ship will be quarantined for up to 14 days under Japanese law.

“We ask people on board to behave in a way to avoid infection while we continue the quarantine process,” Kato said.

Health screening began on Tuesday for everyone on board the cruise liner after an 80-year-old Hong Kong passenger who travelled on the vessel in January tested positive for the coronavirus.

Health officials were testing people who had shown symptoms such as fevers or those who had been in close contact with such people, public broadcaster NHK reported. A health ministry official said not everyone would be tested with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) kits because it was too time-consuming and deemed unnecessary.