Two coronavirus patients from Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan die, 13 more infections confirmed

The passengers were an 87-year-old man who had suffered from bronchitis, and an 84-year-old woman

Two government officials who had worked on the vessel have tested positive for the infection, bringing Japan’s national tally to 89

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The Diamond Princess liner has been quarantined in Yokohama since February 3. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:09am, 20 Feb 2020Updated: 7:36pm, 20 Feb 2020

Two elderly coronavirus-infected passengers from a cruise ship moored near Tokyo have died and two more government officials have been infected, the Japanese government said on Thursday, as more passengers disembarked after two weeks’ quarantine.

Later, health ministry officials confirmed 13 new cases on the Diamond Princess, which has been quarantined since February 3, initially with about 3,700 people on board. The new cases take the overall number of infections on board to 634.

The two passengers were an 87-year-old man who had suffered from heart ailments and bronchitis, and an 84-year-old woman. Both tested positive for the virus although the woman’s cause of death was listed as pneumonia, the health ministry said.

It added that one health ministry official and another from the Cabinet Secretariat were confirmed to be infected with the virus after both had spent time working on the Diamond Princess, bringing Japan’s national tally to 89. Three officials had previously been infected.

Japanese media reported that 29 people were in serious condition, including one who had earlier tested negative for the virus, which the health ministry could not immediately confirm.

Japan has well over half the known cases outside China due to the ship infections and the rapid spread of the virus and the quarantine operation has sparked criticism of authorities just months before Tokyo is due to host the Summer Olympics.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga defended Japan’s efforts. He told a news conference that after measures were put in place to isolate passengers on February 5, the number of new infections was now almost at zero.

Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) said in a report issued on Wednesday that no new cases of the onset of the Covid-19 disease from the cruise ship were reported on February 16-17 and only one crew member case on February 15.