Feb 07 (Japan Times) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that Japan has decided to refuse entry to noncitizen passengers on board a luxury cruise ship that is set to arrive in the country later this week as some are suspected to be infected with the new coronavirus.
The 82,000-ton ship in question is the Westerdam, which departed Hong Hong earlier this month and expected to arrive at a port in Okinawa on Saturday.
The cruise ship carries several Japanese nationals, government sources said.
The decision came as concern grew earlier in the day over the plight of over 3,700 people on board the Diamond Princess quarantined off Yokohama as 10 more cases of the new coronavirus were detected, raising the possibility of a nightmare scenario of a mass infection of people in a confined space.
The latest figure brings the total number of confirmed infections in Japan to 45, including the 20 people who have now tested positive on the cruise ship.
Of the 3,711 passengers and crew members, the health ministry has tested 273 people for the new virus, and is considering whether to test more.
Hiroko Otsubo, deputy director-general at the health ministry, said all of the 10 people verified to have the disease Thursday are passengers and all are showing symptoms. They were taken to hospitals in Kanagawa Prefecture.
“We’ll continue quarantine procedures as we ask passengers to stay inside the ship for a necessary period, to take precautionary actions to prevent infection and stay inside their rooms,†Otsubo said.
Among the 10 passengers, four are Japanese, two are American, two are Canadian, one is Taiwanese and one is a New Zealander. Their ages range from their 50s to their 70s. She declined to specify their conditions but none required special assistance when being transported.
On Wednesday, nine passengers and one crew member were found to be infected with the coronavirus. All were hospitalized.
