41 New Coronavirus Cases Found on Quarantined Ship

Japan on Friday reported 41 new cases of a virus on a cruise ship that's been quarantined in Yokohama harbor while the death toll in mainland China rose to 636, including a doctor who got in trouble with authorities for sounding an early warning about the disease threat. Two docked cruise ships with thousands of passengers and crew members remained under 14-day quarantines in Hong Kong and Japan. Before Friday's 41 confirmed cases, 20 passengers who were found infected with the coronavirus were escorted off the Diamond Princess at Yokohama near Tokyo. About 3,700 people have been confined aboard the ship. Around 3,600 people are on the World Dream, which has been quarantined in Hong Kong, but no coronavirus cases have been detected among them.

The new cases on the Diamond Princess brings the total number in Japan to 86, more than any other except China, which has reported more than 30,000 cases, the BBC reports. Eight of the latest 41 people found to be infected are American citizens. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Thursday that Japan will deny entry of foreign passengers on another cruise ship heading to Japan—Holland America's cruise ship Westerdam, on its way to Okinawa from Hong Kong—because of suspected virus patients found on the ship, the AP reports.

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