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Second Russian hospitalized over coronavirus concerns aboard Diamond Princess

The man's wife, who was reported to be infected earlier, has been hospitalized in Kanagawa Prefecture due to a high risk of having contracted the disease

TOKYO, February 18. /TASS/. The Japanese government has confirmed that only one Russian national is infected with coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the Russian Embassy in Tokyo informed on Tuesday.

"The Japanese side has specified the reports of infected Russian nationals on board the Diamond Princess. According to the explanations we have been given, the spouse of the Russian woman who was suspected to have COVID-19 as of February 17 has been diagnosed with the virus," the embassy informed.

The embassy added that the man is currently held at a special medical facility in Aichi Prefecture. His wife, who was reported to be infected earlier, has been hospitalized in Kanagawa Prefecture due to a high risk of having contracted the disease.

On Tuesday, the Japanese Health Ministry informed that 88 passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, had been diagnosed with coronavirus. The total number of people infected on the ship has reached 542.

On Monday, one Russian citizen was diagnosed with coronavirus, which was the first confirmed case among Russian nationals on board the Diamond Princess.

On December 31, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan — a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. The source of the outbreak is the COVID-19 coronavirus. Cases of coronavirus have been documented in at least 25 countries, including Russia. WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency.

Currently, the total number of people infected with coronavirus exceeds 72,000 in China with over 1,800 reported deaths. Meanwhile, approximately 12,500 people are said to have recovered.