US Cruise Ship Passengers Evacuated as Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 1,800 | WPN World People News

Chinese health officials reported Monday the number of confirmed cases from a coronavirus outbreak surpassed 70,000, with the death toll rising to nearly 1,800.

About 11,000 of those infected have already recovered from the virus.

China's Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, reported 100 more deaths Monday as more healthcare workers arrived to help a medical system that has been under intense pressure since the first cases were discovered in late December.

The majority of the cases found outside of China have been passengers on a cruise ship under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan.

American cruise ship passengers return to US

The United States said Monday it had evacuated more than 300 of its citizens and their immediate family members who had been onboard the Diamond Princess. One flight carrying the passengers arrived early Monday at Travis Air Force Base in California, while another landed hours later at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

A group of 14 people who did not show symptoms, but did test positive for the virus were allowed on the flights in an area isolated from the rest of the passengers. All of the evacuees will be under quarantine for 14 days.

With 99 new cases reported by Japanese officials Monday, a total of 454 of the 3,700 people on the cruise ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Australia announced Monday it would also be evacuating its citizens from the ship. Canada, Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong are planning their own evacuation efforts.

The U.S. State Department is also looking into the case of a U.S. citizen who was diagnosed with the coronavirus after departing another cruise ship, the Westerdam, whose passengers tested negative for the virus before disembarking in Cambodia.

Malaysian medical authorities said the passenger, an 83-year-old woman, twice tested positive for the virus upon arriving in Malaysia after showing signs of a viral infection, a State Department spokesperson said Sunday. She is the first person from the Westerdam to test positive. Her husband tested negative.

The spokesperson said U.S. authorities to not have "sufficient evidence to determine when the passenger may have been exposed and where."

The World Health Organization said Sunday a team of international experts arrived in Beijing to meet with Chinese officials.

Source: Voice of America