THREE more people on a cruise ship off Japan have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the number aboard to 64, the government said today, with passengers facing a two-week quarantine.

The latest confirmation came a day after an additional 41 passengers were found to have contracted the virus, which has killed hundreds of people, most of them in China, where it has infected more than 30,000 on the mainland.

Japanese authorities have so far tested about 280 people on board the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined after a former passenger, who disembarked in Hong Kong last month, was diagnosed with the virus.

Test results from six more people were released today, with three of them confirmed infected, the health ministry said without giving further details such as their nationalities.

The three have already been sent to hospital, the ministry said in a statement.

There were more than 3,700 passengers and crew on the ship when it arrived off Japan’s coast on Monday evening. It docked in Yokohama on Thursday to resupply for a quarantine that could last until February 19.

One of those found infected is in serious condition. Many on board are elderly and at greater risk of developing complications from the virus.

Testing was initially carried out on those who displayed symptoms or had come into close contact with the former passenger diagnosed.

‘Very, very scary’

Japan has already reported at least 25 cases of coronavirus aside from the infections on board the ship, and evacuated hundreds of citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pathogen emerged, including on a fourth flight Friday.

Passengers on the ship have been asked to stay inside their cabins to prevent new infections and have expressed confusion and frustration.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on Tokyo to provide sufficient support, including mental care, for the passengers and patients.

“There’s a lot to do to support those patients. Not just from the point of view of their physical health but from a mental health perspective,” Michael Ryan, head of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, told reporters in Geneva yesterday. 

“It’s quite scary, very, very scary to be in that situation,” he said. “It’s a very stressful situation for those individuals.”

But he also called for calm, saying: “Let’s be careful here not to overreact. This is a very close community living in very close quarters.” – AFP, February 8, 2020.