French Citizen Tests Positive For Novel Coronavirus On Diamond Princess Cruise Ship - Wife

A French man on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently docked off Japan's Yokohama, has tested positive for a novel strain of coronavirus, as his wife confirmed to the RTL radio station on Friday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) A French man on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently docked off Japan's Yokohama, has tested positive for a novel strain of coronavirus, as his wife confirmed to the RTL radio station on Friday.

Linda Vittori told the French broadcaster that her 80-year-old husband Michel had tested positive for the virus, despite the pair being confined to their cabin for eleven days after the ship was quarantined.

"We learned the results this morning. My husband was sent to a hospital whose address I do not know," Vittori stated.

She added that doctors would conduct additional tests on her husband in order to confirm the diagnosis, and its severity.

The Diamond Princess cruise liner has been under quarantine near Yokohama since February 3, after a passenger who left the vessel in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization.

A total of 3,711 passengers and crew are aboard the vessel, and so far, 218 people have tested positive for the virus.

The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late December and has since spread to more than 20 other countries. So far, the virus has infected over 64,000 people worldwide, resulting in the deaths of over 1,380 people.