Coronavirus continues to spread on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan — with another 70 cases of the deadly illness diagnosed aboard, officials said Sunday.
Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said the new cases bring the total of people sick on the vessel to 355.
The ship, which has quarantined since arriving in Yokohama, has the most coronavirus infectious outside of China.
Those who test positive are removed from the ship and taken to Japanese hospitals for treatment.
“We must anticipate a spread of infections from now and must build medical system and so on to focus efforts to prevent people from becoming gravely ill or dying,” Kato told state broadcaster NHK.
Among the passengers infected with the coronavirus are 46 American travelers, according to CNN. They will not be allowed on the US charter planes scheduled for Sunday to evacuate guests stuck on the ship.
The US Embassy in Tokyo said that all passengers will be screened before being allowed on the aircraft.
“No symptomatic or infected passengers will be allowed to board,” it said.
The death toll for the coronavirus stands at 1,669 with more than 69,000 sick from the infectious disease.