20 Cruise Ship Passengers Positive For Coronavirus, Thousands Still Quarantined In Japan

Things have gotten a lot worse for the 3,700 passengers and crew of the cruise ship, Diamond Princess, which has remained docked in Yokohama, Japan since Monday because a single Chinese passenger that left the ship January 25 was confirmed with the contagious Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The ship and its complement embarked on their pleasure cruise turned horror story on January 20 from Yokohama. They were expected back in Yokohama on January 4 but the ship returned a day earlier after Hong Kong authorities told the ship's officers one of the passengers that disembarked at Hong Kong (a Chinese man) had taken ill and had tested positive for 2019-nCoV.

Princess Cruises, owner of Diamond Princess, said the passenger embarked on the ship in Yokohama on January 20 and disembarked in Hong Kong on January 25. Diamond Princess then continued its round-trip journey that ultimately took other passengers back to Yokohama. The port city of Yokohama is located 37 km by road southwest of Tokyo.

On January 29, the passenger from Hong Kong tested positive for coronavirus at a local hospital, according to Princess Cruises. This led to the ship's immediate quarantine in Yokohama. Only those taken ill from the disease have left the ship since then.

So far, this lone Chinese individual has infected 20 people aboard the luxury liner. Ten of the passengers and crew tested positive for the virus earlier in the week while 10 more were confirmed sick on Wednesday.

The first group of 10 -- nine passengers and one crewmember -- have been sent ashore for treatment. Princess Cruises said the second group will disembark Thursday and be taken to nearby hospitals.

It said the new group includes “four Japanese guests, one guest from Taiwan, two Americans, two Canadians and one guest from New Zealand." Diamond Princes has 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members on board. The ship and everyone on it will remain on board for two weeks.

The initial group that tested positive included three passengers from Hong Kong, three from Japan, two from Australia, one from the U.S. and one crew member from the Philippines. About half the Diamond Princess’ passengers are from Japan. The rest are from a variety of countries.