Coronavirus: Dozens more COVID-19 cases confirmed as Diamond Princess quarantine ends
The Foreign Office is hopeful affected Britons will be able to get a flight back to the UK later this week.
Wednesday 19 February 2020 14:22, UK
Another 79 people have tested positive for COVID-19 on board a cruise ship that has been quarantined for two weeks - as passengers and crew started disembarking.
The new cases were confirmed as the controversial quarantine ended on the Diamond Princess, bringing the total on the ship to 621.
443 people were allowed to leave the ship on Wednesday, and about 2,000 others will be gradually evacuated by Friday.
The ship is currently moored off the coast of Yokohama in Japan, and the Foreign Office is hopeful that affected Britons will be able to get a flight back to the UK later this week.
Officials have warned British passengers and crew they may not be able to get on the plane if they leave the ship - and they will need to complete another 14 days of isolation when they land in Britain.
Other countries have sent flights to evacuate people from the ship already, with the US flying more than 300 nationals on Monday.
Australia is due to fly 169 out of the 220 Australians who were on board to Darwin, while six South Koreans and one Japanese spouse were flown to South Korea on Wednesday.
Passengers who have tested negative for the coronavirus and have no symptoms must have their body temperature checked before they are allowed to disembark.
Vicki Presland, an Australian tourist on board the Diamond Princess, said she was "very keen to get off this ship" after being confined to her cabin.
British tourists Allen and Vanessa Sandford have published videos of how they quelled their boredom during the quarantine, showing them pacing up and down their cabin, watching films and making their bed.
A Japanese infectious disease specialist, who spent a day as a volunteer doctor on the cruiseliner, has criticised his government's handling of the outbreak on the ship, saying it was run by "bureaucrats" instead of disease experts.
In a YouTube video that has garnered more than one million views, Kentaro Iwata said: "The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of the infection control.
"There was no single professional infection control person inside the ship and there was nobody in charge of infection prevention as a professional. The bureaucrats were in charge of everything."
Some people in their ship cabins waved farewell from their balconies as fellow passengers returned to dry land, with soldiers helping to escort the elderly.
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A 77-year-old Japanese man, who disembarked with his wife, told Kyodo News: "I'm a bit concerned if I'm okay to get off the ship, but it was getting very difficult physically. For now, we just want to celebrate."
Crew members, who have continued working throughout the two-week quarantine period, are expected to stay on the ship.
In other developments:
- More than 2,000 people worldwide have now died from COVID-19 since the outbreak began
- Six of these deaths were outside mainland China - with the latest fatality reported in Hong Kong
- The number of new suspected and confirmed cases in China has fallen for the second day in a row
- Global health experts say it is too early to predict how the coronavirus epidemic will play out
On Tuesday, a study of 45,000 confirmed COVID-19 patients - carried about by Chinese health officials - revealed that about 80% of cases were mild.
The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said 14% had severe symptoms such as pneumonia and 5% had critical symptoms.
The sick and elderly were most at risk and medical staff are at a high risk, the report found.
Men were more likely to die, with a 2.8% mortality rate, while women had a 1.7% chance of dying.
British prime minister Boris Johnson, has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone - telling the president that he "loves China" and stands ready to fight "shoulder to shoulder" against COVID-19.