BEIJING: American passengers were taken off a cruise liner yesterday to fly home after being quarantined for two weeks off Japan, while China said the rate of new coronavirus cases had slowed, proof its steps to fight the outbreak were working.
An announcement on the tannoy aboard the Diamond Princess, where 3,700 passengers and crew have been held since February 3, told Americans to get ready to disembark yesterday evening for charter flights home. Passengers wearing masks could later be seen waving through the windows of buses parked near the ship.
Canadian, Italian, South Korean and Hong Kong passengers were expected to follow soon, after their governments also
announced plans to repatriate passengers.
“Leaving in a few hours. No details. Might be going to Texas or Nebraska,” Gay Courter, one of the American passengers on board, told Reuters. She said she expected to spend
another two weeks in quarantine on US soil.
Seventy new coronavirus cases were confirmed on board the Diamond Princess, bringing the total on the ship to 355, by far the
largest cluster of cases outside China.
Within China, authorities reported 2,009 new cases yesterday, noting that this was down from more than 2,600 the previous day. They said this showed their efforts to halt the spread of the virus were bearing fruit.
“The effect of the coronavirus controls is appearing,” Mi Feng, spokesman for the Health Commission, said.
The new cases brought the total to 68,500 in mainland China, with 1,665 deaths, including 143 fatalities reported yesterday. Outside China, more than 500 cases have been confirmed, mostly of people who travelled from Chinese cities, with five deaths.
The coronavirus is thought to have emerged at a wildlife market in China’s central province of Hubei. China’s response has included putting Hubei and its capital Wuhan – a city of 11 million people – on virtual lockdown.