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AFP
Yokohama
Americans began leaving a quarantined cruise ship off Japan early today to board chartered flights home as the number of new coronavirus cases diagnosed on the vessel jumped to 355.
The evacuation came as Japanese authorities stepped up warnings over the deadly outbreak, urging citizens to avoid crowds and “non-essential gatherings.” The Diamond Princess was placed in a 14-day quarantine in early February after a former passenger tested positive for the virus.
But US authorities announced on Saturday they would offer Americans on board the option to leave the ship and fly home, where they will face another 14-day isolation period. Several other governments have announced plans to remove their citizens from the ship as well.
Late Sunday and into the early hours of Monday, Americans who opted to leave were brought off the ship in groups, passing through a makeshift passport control but undergoing no health checks, American passenger Sarah Arana told AFP.
They boarded buses driven by personnel in head-to-toe protective suits and were told that the more than a dozen vehicles would travel in a convoy.
“I am happy and ready to go,” Arana told AFP before leaving the ship. “We need a proper quarantine, this was not it.” The US government should have intervened “much sooner, at the beginning,” the 52-year-old medical social worker said.
Yokohama
Americans began leaving a quarantined cruise ship off Japan early today to board chartered flights home as the number of new coronavirus cases diagnosed on the vessel jumped to 355.
The evacuation came as Japanese authorities stepped up warnings over the deadly outbreak, urging citizens to avoid crowds and “non-essential gatherings.” The Diamond Princess was placed in a 14-day quarantine in early February after a former passenger tested positive for the virus.
But US authorities announced on Saturday they would offer Americans on board the option to leave the ship and fly home, where they will face another 14-day isolation period. Several other governments have announced plans to remove their citizens from the ship as well.
Late Sunday and into the early hours of Monday, Americans who opted to leave were brought off the ship in groups, passing through a makeshift passport control but undergoing no health checks, American passenger Sarah Arana told AFP.
They boarded buses driven by personnel in head-to-toe protective suits and were told that the more than a dozen vehicles would travel in a convoy.
“I am happy and ready to go,” Arana told AFP before leaving the ship. “We need a proper quarantine, this was not it.” The US government should have intervened “much sooner, at the beginning,” the 52-year-old medical social worker said.
