Coronavirus: According to some experts, cruise ships are very prone to outbreaks of common cold.
Four more Indians have tested positive for lethal coronavirus, which has killed over 2,200 people in China, on Japan cruise ship, Diamond Princess, Foreign Ministry said today. Among the 138 Indians aboard the ship, where more than 630 coronavirus cases account for the biggest cluster of infection outside China, 12 have tested positive so far.
In a tweet, the Foreign Ministry said test results for the remaining 126 Indian nationals are expected by Wednesday. The twelve Indian patients - who are under watch - are responding well to treatment, it added in another post.
"Japanese authorities confirmed that samples from all onboard #DiamondPrincess collected for PCR test and being processed. All results expected by 25/26 Feb. Indian nationals on the ship, who would not test positive, will be facilitated by @IndianEmbTokyo soon after. @MEAIndia," read one of the posts.
"@IndianEmbTokyo hoped that no additional Indian nationals onboard #DiamondPrincess would test positive for #COVID19. Unfortunately, results received as of 1200 JST include 4 Indian crew members having tested positive. All 12 Indians are responding well to treatment. @MEAIndia," the other tweet read.
The coronavirus outbreak, which has spread to over 25 countries in the last two months, has been called a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation.
The British-flagged Diamond Princess, operated by Carnival Corp, arrived in Yokohama, near Tokyo in Japan, on February 3 with about 3,700 people onboard after the virus was diagnosed in a man who disembarked last month in Hong Kong. A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew members and six passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship.
According to some experts, cruise ships are very prone to outbreaks of common cold and the vomiting virus.
Japan reported the deaths of two elderly passengers on Thursday, the first fatalities from aboard the ship.