Coronavirus: Brits trapped on quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess to be flown home tomorrow

BRITONS stranded on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan will be repatriated on a flight departing Tokyo on Friday, the foreign secretary said.
By Tom Cotterill
Published 20th Feb 2020, 08:21 BST
Updated 20th Feb 2020, 10:38 BST
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There are 74 British nationals on the Diamond Princess ship, which was quarantined on February 3 after an outbreak of coronavirus.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said information has been provided to those registered for the flight back home, but he urged ‘other British nationals still seeking to leave to contact us’.

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He added: ‘We will continue to support British nationals who wish to stay in Japan.’

Foreign passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leave a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Passengers tested negative for COVID-19 started disembarking since Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)Foreign passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leave a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Passengers tested negative for COVID-19 started disembarking since Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Foreign passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leave a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Passengers tested negative for COVID-19 started disembarking since Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Those repatriated from the Diamond Princess will be quarantined at accommodation at Arrowe Park on the Wirral on their return, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said.

As of Wednesday, there were 79 new cases of the virus onboard the ship, bringing the total to 621 confirmed cases, Japanese officials said.

It is the largest cluster of cases outside China.

The US has already evacuated more than 300 of its citizens from the ship. South Korea, Canada, Australia, Israel and Hong Kong are also planning evacuations.

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Briton David Abel, who is being treated for coronavirus in Japan alongside his wife Sally, posted pictures of the couple on Facebook from their hospital beds.

He said: ‘We arrived in lovely hospital a couple of hours ago. Taken by ambulance blues & twos the entire journey.

‘Outside the hospital I came over a bit weird and nearly passed out. Every pore on my body opened and i was wheelchaired to our room.

‘Full health inspection and now we know what's going on. We both contracted a cold (unaware of) and it has not yet turned into pneumonia. (we do have coronavirus).

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‘Tomorrow the big tests commence. chest x-rays, ECG, chest scan, urine + more.

‘We are both in the best place! They do know what they are doing and our two nurses are gorgeous. Sally likes the Dr too.

‘Following treatments we require two days of all clear tests then we go for another big 3rd round of tests.

‘Wi-fi will not work for me, so this will be the final communication for some time.’

He added: ‘See you all before you know it.’

In further posts, he said his wife Sally had a bed in the same room as him and said they were ‘thinking of all the Brits flying to UK tomorrow.’

Related topics:Dominic RaabCoronavirusJapan

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