Seventy new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship carrying New Zealanders, which is quarantined in Japanese waters.
Photo: AFP
The new cases bring the total number to 355 cases, Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said on Sunday.
The Diamond Princess, owned by Carnival Corp, has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, on 3 February, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong before it traveled to Japan was diagnosed with the virus.
Some 3700 passengers and crew were aboard the ship, where the most coronavirus infections outside China have occurred.
Those testing positive are transferred to Japanese hospitals - including two New Zealanders.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is looking at all options to assist the 11 New Zealanders on board.
In a statement MFAT said it hopes to assist New Zealanders to return home as soon as possible, and in a manner that ensure their safety and that of others.
"We are in regular communication with the Japanese authorities, the ship's operator and our close partners about how best to proceed.
"We are in daily contact with the New Zealand passengers through our embassy in Tokyo," it said.
Meanwhile, the US government is preparing to evacuate Americans who have been quarantined on the ship.
The cruise liner has the most coronavirus infections outside China. Its quarantine is set to end on Wednesday.
The US Embassy in Tokyo said passengers and crew were at high risk of exposure to the virus and it recommended that the estimated 400 US citizens onboard get off and take one of the evacuation flights it is arranging.
"This is a rapidly evolving situation," the embassy said in a notice.
The embassy said everyone would be screened before being allowed to board the chartered flights and quarantined for 14 days upon arrival back in the United States.
"No symptomatic or infected passengers will be allowed to board," it said.
Clyde Smith, 80, who was evacuated from the ship to a Tokyo hospital after testing positive for the virus, told Reuters he had not been told if he would be allowed on a US evacuation plane.
Hong Kong said it planned to send aircraft for some 330 of its residents, while Canada said it too would send a plane for its citizens on the cruise ship.
China announces drop in new cases for third straight day
China's latest figures showed 68,500 cases of the illness and 1665 deaths, most of them in Hubei.
The National Health Commission reported 2009 new cases, down from 2641 the previous day, and 142 new deaths, just one lower than the 143 on the previous day. All but four of the new deaths were in Hubei.
The province and its capital, Wuhan, have been virtually sealed off and locked down since 23 January, with schools, offices and factories shut and most travel suspended.
The virus is believed to have an incubation period of 14 days which would appear to indicate it has been spreading since the lockdown was imposed.
But health commission spokesman Mi Feng said the campaign was beginning to show results.
"The effect of the coronavirus controls is appearing," Mi told reporters.
More medical support and preventive measures in Hubei had headed off more critical cases and the proportion of critical cases among confirmed cases was falling, Mi said.
Mild cases were also being treated more quickly, preventing them from becoming critical, Mi said.
Doctors talk to patients with coronavirus in a hospital in Wuhan, in China's Hubei Province. Photo: AFP
After an extended Lunar New Year holiday, China urgently needs to get back to work. But some cities remain in lockdown, streets are deserted, employees are nervous, and travel bans and quarantine orders are in place around the country.
Many factories are yet to re-open, disrupting supply chains in China and beyond for everyone from smartphone makers to car manufacturers.
The economic ripple effects go far beyond China.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the coronavirus might knock two to three-tenths of a percent off US gross domestic product in the first quarter.
-RNZ / Reuters
