US passengers board a plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to fly home after they left the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship off Yokohama/AFP
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 17 – Fourteen American passengers evacuated form a quarantined cruise ship in Japan tested positive for coronavirus as the United States heightened efforts to evacuate its citizens stuck in the ship on Sunday.
A joint statement by the Departments of State, and Health and Human Services indicated those who tested positive were restricted from the evacuation charters which saw over 300 Americans evacuated as part of precautionary measures.
“During the evacuation process, after passengers had disembarked the ship and initiated transport to the airport, US officials received notice that 14 passengers, who had been tested 2-3 days earlier, had tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement read.
“These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols,” the two departments assured.
The passengers, the departments said, were later allowed to board evacuation charters after requisite measure were put in place.
“After consultation with HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process.”
The departments said those who tested positive for the virus, which had 71,000 recorded cases by Monday and 1,800 deaths, will remain under isolation for the rest of the passengers.
“During the flights, these individuals will continue to be isolated from the other passengers. These flights departed Japan at approximately 4:30 PM Eastern time on February 16 and will arrive in the United States later this morning (February 17),” the US indicated in the statement.
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