Greece To Evacuate 2 Citizens From Coronavirus-Stricken Diamond Princess Liner - Minister

Greece to Evacuate 2 Citizens From Coronavirus-Stricken Diamond Princess Liner - Minister

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2020) Two Greek nationals will be evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner and repatriated to Greece next week, the Greek health minister said Sunday.

The Diamond Princess cruise liner has been under quarantine off the Japanese coast of Yokohama since February with 355 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus out of the 3,771 passengers on board. New cases are being reported daily as nations have begun scrambling to evacuate their citizens off of the ship.

"We are already coordinating and organizing an operation to return the two Greeks to their homeland possibly next week, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies," Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias said, according to Greek media outlet Skai.

According to Skai, Kikilias refused to share any more details about the Greek nationals.

On Friday, around 10 passengers under 80, who had been tested negative for the virus, were evacuated from the vessel.

The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in the Hubei province in December and has since spread to more than 25 countries. In mainland China, the virus has already resulted in more than 1,600 fatalities, with nearly 70,000 people infected. Outside of China, more than 500 people were infected with the virus, including two cases in Russia.