Japan quarantines cruise ship after passenger infected with NCoV

Japanese authorities were awaiting tests results on Tuesday for passengers aboard a cruise ship that arrived at a port in Yokohama and was immediately quarantined after a passenger was found to have been infected with the deadly novel coronavirus.

According to the Japanese governmet, the "Diamond Princess" had left Yokohama on January 20, and before returning, had stopped at the ports of Kagoshima, Okinawa and Hong Kong, where a passenger who disembarked in the city was found to be infected with the coronavirus, Efe news reported.

The vessel also stopped in Vietnam and Taiwan, public broadcaster NHK said in a report.

Upon becoming aware of the case, the Japanese authorities ordered the cruise ship to remain moored off Yokohama and sent a team of doctors and quarantine officials to conduct tests on the approximately 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew members.

The authorities will not allow people with fever, cough or other symptoms aboard the ship to disembark until they have the results of the medical tests expected on Tuesday evening, a Japanese Health Ministry spokesperson told NHK.

On February 1, Japan announced a ban on the entry of foreign nationals who had visited China's Hubei province, whose capital Wuhan is the outbreak epicenter, in the past two weeks, as well as Chinese citizens whose passports were issued in that region.

As of Tuesday morning the death toll in China increased to 425, with 20,438 confirmed cases.

Outside China, Hong Kong and the Philippines have reported one death each.

( With inputs from IANS )