Pinoy seafarer among 10 people found with nCoV on Japan cruise ship

A Filipino seafarer was among the 10 people on board a cruise ship who were tested positive for novel coronavirus in Japan.

None of the 10 infected people — aside from the Filipino, there were three each from Japan and Hong Kong, two Australians, and one American — had severe symptoms, according to a Reuters report, citing public broadcaster NHK.

Meanwhile, around 3,700 people are facing at least two weeks locked away on the cruise liner anchored off Japan.

While the infected patients were transferred by Japan's coast guard to hospitals on the mainland, the remainder of the passengers and crew on board the Carnival Corp ship were placed in quarantine.

"I want to take sufficient care of the health of passengers and crew and make every effort to prevent the spread of the virus," Japan Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters in Tokyo.

The decision means that passengers on Carnival's Diamond Princess, who had embarked for a planned eight-day round trip that was due begin on Tuesday, will instead spend at least 14 days off Yokohama port near Tokyo.

The cruise ship was caught up in the global coronavirus epimedic after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who sailed on the vessel last month tested positive for the virus. The man disembarked in Kagoshima in Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Jan. 22, where he joined a bus tour, local media reported.

Everyone on board on the ship since Monday had received initial health screening, Kato said on Wednesday, a process that identified 273 people for testing. Of that smaller group, 31 results had been received so far, revealing the 10 confirmed cases.

Kato said that officials would continue to monitor the remaining passengers and crew for the potential development of symptoms, suggesting that more test samples could be taken. —Reuters