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Coronavirus pandemic

Number of confirmed coronavirus cases on cruise ship in Japan reaches 175

There are currently around 3,700 people from 50 countries, including Russia, on board the cruise ship anchored near the port of Yokohama

© EPA-EFE/FRANCK ROBICHON

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Novel coronavirus will reach its peak in China in mid-February, official says

TOKYO, February 12. /TASS/. Pneumonia cauased by the new coronavirus was confirmed in 34 passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship which had been quarantined for two weeks near the port of Yokohama, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported on Wednesday.

One employee of the quarantine service working on the cruise ship had also contracted the coronavirus.

Thus, the number of people infected with the new coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship has reached 175.

There are currently around 3,700 people from 50 countries, including Russia, on board the cruise ship. All people who were infected with the virus have been evacuated from the ship and hospitalized in Kanagawa prefecture.

The ship left Yokohama on January 20 and returned on February 3. Among passengers was a Chinese citizens with the coronavirus who left the ship on January 25 in Hong Kong. In accodance with the decision made by the Japanese authorities, the ship was anchored near Yokohama and quarantined for two weeks, until February 19.

The Chinese authorities registered an outbreak of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV in the city of Wuhan. Cases of new coronavirus were confirmed in 24 other countries and territories, including in Russia. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. According to latest reports, over 42,700 cases of new coronavirus were confirmed in China, the death toll surpassed 1,000, and over 4,000 people recovered from the virus.

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