Virus Outbreak: Taiwan to evacuate cruise passengers

‘VERY CAREFUL’: All Taiwanese on board the ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise ship would be evacuated on a chartered China Airlines flight, the minister of health and welfare said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 16, 2020
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The government is negotiating with Japanese officials to arrange the evacuation of Taiwanese

passengers quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of Yokohama, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.

The Diamond Princess, with about 3,500 passengers and crew on board, was placed under a 14-day quarantine on Feb. 4, when it was scheduled to dock in Yokohama. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection on the ship have been rapidly increasing since then.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare yesterday said that 67 new cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed, bringing the total number of infected passengers and crew to 285.

While the US government is making arrangements to evacuate Americans from the ship, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that it has also been negotiating with Japanese officials to conduct a similar operation.    [FULL  STORY]