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Eight more Russian citizens leave cruise ship in Japan

The evacuation of passengers is expected to end on Friday

TOKYO, February 21. /TASS/. Another eight Russian nationals who had tested negative for the novel coronavirus and who had been held under a two-week quarantine have left the Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored in the port of the Japanese city of Yokohama, the Russian Embassy in Japan reported on Friday.

"Eight Russians who will return to their home country soon left the ship earlier today. Our fellow countrymen who remain onboard will soon go ashore as well as soon as all the paperwork is done," the embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook. Six Russian citizens who had tested negative for the novel coronavirus have left the vessel over the past two days.

There were a total of 3,700 people, including 24 Russians, onboard the ship. Four Russian citizens were earlier taken to the hospitals, three of them had been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus and another one was hospitalized due to the risk of being infected.

The evacuation of passengers from the Diamond Princess ship, which began on February 19, is expected to end on Friday. About 1,150 people are supposed to leave the ship during that time.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship left Yokohama on January 20 and returned on February 3. A coronavirus-infected Chinese citizen who left the ship on January 25 in Hong Kong was among the passengers. In accordance with the decision made by the Japanese authorities, the ship was anchored near Yokohama and quarantined for two weeks starting with February 5.

The outbreak of the now-infamous novel coronavirus pneumonia was recorded in Wuhan, an economic and industrial metropolis with a population of 11 million, in late December 2019. The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern, describing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. Apart from China, 25 other countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.

According to the latest data, the death toll in China has climbed to 2,236, more than 18,200 patients have recovered, while the number of infected people has exceeded 75,400.