Japan quarantines 3,500 on cruise ship over new Coronavirus

Japan has quarantined a cruise ship carrying 3,500 people and was testing passengers for the new Coronavirus after a passenger who departed in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus.

Several quarantine officers entered the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the port of Yokohama on Monday evening to check the health of all 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew members.

The move comes after an 80-year-old passenger who disembarked on January 25 in Hong Kong tested positive for the deadly virus. After the ship arrived in Yokohama on Monday evening, passengers were told their departure from the area would be delayed by 24 hours.

The cruise ship has already been quarantined once, on Saturday at a port in Naha in Japan’s southernmost Okinawa.