99 Additional COVID-19 Cases Confirmed on Japanese Cruise Ship... Total 454 (Comprehensive)

Total Infected Including Japanese Cruise Ship Passengers: 519

105 New Cases in One Day on the 17th

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] Kyodo News reported that 99 new cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) were confirmed on the cruise ship "Diamond Princess," docked at Yokohama Port, Japan, on the 17th.

As a result, the total number of COVID-19 infections on the Diamond Princess, which has been docked at Yokohama Port since the 3rd, has increased to 454.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that out of approximately 3,700 passengers and crew members on the cruise ship, a total of 1,723 have been tested for COVID-19 so far.

Among the 99 newly confirmed cases on this day, 43 were Japanese nationals, and 70 were asymptomatic. So far, there have been no confirmed cases among the 15 Korean passengers on the cruise ship.

In addition to the cruise ship passengers and crew, six more COVID-19 cases were confirmed within Japan, including a man in his 50s from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare who was dispatched to the cruise ship, and a woman in her 40s working as a nurse at a hospital in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The total number of confirmed cases in Japan to date is 519. Including the cruise ship passengers, 105 people tested positive on this day.

The male Ministry of Health employee in his 50s was responsible for information gathering and communication with headquarters on the Diamond Princess from the 11th.

The female nurse in her 40s is reported to have cared for an elderly woman in her 80s, who was the first COVID-19 fatality in Japan.