Four Indians infected with coronavirus on board cruise ship responding well to treatment: Indian embassy

PTI, Feb 17, 2020, 5:52 PM IST

Tokyo: The Indian embassy here on Monday said the four Indians infected with the novel coronavirus on board the quarantined cruise ship moored off the Japanese coast were responding well to treatment even as 99 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, taking the number of those infected to 454 on the vessel.

The embassy in a tweet on Sunday said the number of infected Indians on the ship, Diamond Princess, rose to five with two more testings positive for the disease.

However, on Monday, the mission revised the figure to four.

“All 4 #COVID19 positive Indian nationals as on today receiving medical attention onshore are responding well to the treatment,” it said in a tweet.

“@IndianEmbTokyo is in regular touch with Indians on-board #DiamondPrincess. They understand public health safety concerns in such situations,” it added.

Meanwhile, the total number of people infected with COVID-19 on the ship rose to 454 after 99 more people tested positive for the disease.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship that arrived at the Japanese coast earlier this month.

The ship was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the COVID-19 on the ship.

The Embassy said it was making efforts for early de-boarding of all the Indians from the ship after the end of the quarantine period and was in discussions with the Japanese government and the ship management company for the disembarkation modalities and welfare of Indians.

The US on Monday evacuated its 340 nationals from the ship.

According to a report in the AFP, the US embassy in Japan confirmed two jets took off from Japan with its citizens evacuated from the ship and those on board were expected to undergo a further 14-day quarantine period on US soil.

The US state department later said that 14 of the evacuees received had the virus, the report said.

China, where the virus outbreak occurred, is grappling to contain the deadly disease as the death toll climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China’s Hubei province in December last year and has spread to several countries, including India.

Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.