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Reuters

More than 300 US citizens including 14 infected with the coronavirus were in the United States and under quarantine on Monday after spending two weeks stuck on a cruise ship off Japan that had the largest cluster of cases outside China.
The 14 people who tested positive were isolated in specialised containment areas aboard two chartered planes that flew to US military bases, the State Department said in a statement.
At Joint Base San Antonio in Texas, a ground crew in anti-contamination suits climbed the stairs to the plane on the tarmac in the predawn fog on Monday, news video showed. Passengers later descended wearing surgical masks.
A couple of hours earlier, a separate chartered plane landed at Travis Air Force Base in California.


The passengers will remain under quarantine another 14 days.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed 1,770 people in China and five elsewhere, with Chinese officials reporting another 2,048 cases on Monday, raising the total to 70,548.
The cruise ship Diamond Princess, with 3,700 passengers total, held by far the largest cluster of cases outside China with more than 400 people testing positive.
Coronavirus: Singapore tightens rules for those returning from China
The ship was ordered to stay under quarantine at Yokohama port on February 3 after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man, who was on board from January 20 to January 25, developed the virus.
Some relatives of passengers criticised the decision to quarantine people on the ship given the possibility that the virus would spread to uninfected people on board.
“Not even the hospitals could contain the infection,” Blake Courter, whose parents, Phil and Gay Courter, were evacuated from the ship, told CNN. “It’s been our position since the beginning that that was not a safe quarantine.”


The back-to-back quarantines mean the passengers will spend a total of four weeks separated from the rest of the world, forcing families to scramble to get medicine and supplies to their loved ones.
Ashley Rhodes-Courter, Blake’s sister, told CNN that their mother’s insulin would have run out were it not for an extraordinary effort to resupply her on board. But she said her parents were willing to endure further quarantine for the greater good.
“They know that this is the responsible choice for the protection of thousands of others,” Rhodes-Courter said. “And if that means my parents using a porta-potty a little longer than they had hoped, then they’re willing to do that and abide by the rules.”
Coronavirus: how Diamond Princess became a ‘super spreading’ site
Before the arrival of the sickened passengers from the cruise, US officials had reported 15 cases in seven states, most of them travellers who had returned from China but also three who had been evacuated on other US-chartered planes repatriating Americans.
Previously, more than 40 Americans on the Diamond Princess had tested positive, and US health officials said they would remain in Japan for treatment.
The 300 people removed from the ship and due to board the US-bound planes were evaluated by US government medical staff and initially deemed asymptomatic and fit to fly, the State Department said.

But after passengers had left the ship and were on their way to the airport, US officials received notice that 14 passengers in the group had tested positive, the State Department said. All had tested negative two to three days earlier.
“These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialised containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols,” the State Department said.
The State Department said it decided to allow the 14 sickened Americans to fly home after consulting US health experts.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: 300 Americans from Diamond Princess cruise ship back and quarantined in US

American passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess in Japan disembark from a plane in San Antonio, Texas early on Monday. Photo: San Antonio Express-News via AP

A bus carrying passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship leaves Yokohama Port, near Tokyo, on Feb. 14, 2020. Passengers aged 80 and over who tested negative for a new coronavirus were allowed to get off the vessel, which has been in quarantine amid the spread of the virus among people aboard, and those disembarked were sent to the National Tax College in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, for temporary quarantine. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Coronavirus: 99 more cases on Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan as US evacuates citizens

The ship was placed under quarantine on February 4, with more than 3,000 people affected. Photo: Kyodo

Coronavirus: Hongkongers stranded aboard Diamond Princess cruise ship to be flown home on Cathay Pacific flights, as city confirms three new cases

Hundreds of Hong Kong residents stranded aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan are set to return home on chartered Cathay Pacific flights. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Immigration team at the Hong Kong Airport, about 30 people to Japan in the evening to finalise arrangements with officials there. Among those going to Tokyo are officers from the Department of Health. 17FEB20 HANDOUT PHOTO

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam (right), visits Lok Sin Tong Social Housing Scheme at Kowloon City this evening (February 17) to distribute disease prevention items including surgical masks to grass-roots families and learn about their daily lives.  17FEB20 SCMP Pictures (HANDOUT from ISD)

FILE PHOTO: A passenger wearing a mask stands on the deck of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as the vessel's passengers continue to be tested for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 13, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

(FILES) This file photo taken on March 13, 2019 shows a Cathay Pacific passenger plane preparing to take off from Hong Kong's international airport. - A fortnight ago Cathay Pacific said it "wouldn't dream" of muzzling the views of its 27,000 Hong Kong staff, but after the dismissal of several pro-democracy supporters among its workforce under pressure from China, employees say this is exactly what has happened. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) / TO GO WITH HongKong-China-politics-unrest-Cathay-economy,FOCUS by Elaine Yu and Emma Clark

Coronavirus: South Korea joins other nations planning to evacuate citizens on Diamond Princess

An ambulance is seen in front of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked in Yokohama, Japan. Several countries are starting to evacuate residents aboard the quarantined ship. Photo: Bloomberg

A bus with a driver (L) wearing protective gear departs from the dockside next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 16, 2020. - The number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus on a quarantined ship off Japan's coast has risen to 355, the country's health minister said February 16. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

Passengers wave on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as the vessel's passengers continue to be tested for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Athtit Perawongmetha

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Group includes 14 infected patients who were isolated in special containment areas on board two planes for evacuation
Passengers had been stuck for two weeks on vessel off Japan with largest cluster of cases outside China



Passengers had been stuck for two weeks on vessel off Japan with largest cluster of cases outside China.


Coronavirus: 300 Americans from Diamond Princess cruise ship back and quarantined in US

Group includes 14 infected patients who were isolated in special containment areas on board two planes for evacuation Passengers had been stuck for two weeks on vessel off Japan with largest cluster of cases outside China

Group includes 14 infected patients who were isolated in special containment areas on board two planes for evacuation

Passengers had been stuck for two weeks on vessel off Japan with largest cluster of cases outside China