99 more cases of coronavirus confirmed on cruise ship

Officials have confirmed another 99 cases of novel coronavirus on a quarantined cruise ship docked in Japan’s port of Yokohama.

The new cases bring the confirmed infections on board the ship to 454, The Guardian reports. Hundreds of U.S. nationals who were quarantined on the ship have been flown back to the U.S., with 14 passengers testing positive during the evacuation, according to the State Department.

Australia, meanwhile, said Wednesday that it will also evacuate nationals on the ship, with both Australian and U.S. officials saying citizens will be quarantined another two weeks after arriving home. Forty U.S. passengers with the virus have been transferred to Japanese hospitals.

“Many people are testing positive on the ship, but that is because we are testing everyone onboard, regardless of their medical condition,” said Shigeru Omi, the chief director of the Japan Community Health Care Organization, according to the newspaper. “And 70% of those testing positive are not showing any symptoms at all.”

The new confirmations come amid growing concern over the possibility of the virus’s presence on another liner that docked in Cambodia last week after being rejected by four other governments. A passenger from the MS Westerdam was on Sunday confirmed to have contracted the virus days after disembarking.

Holland America Line, the Westerdam’s cruise operator, told Reuters any passengers who left Cambodia would be “contacted by their local health department and be provided further information.”

As of Monday, 71,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with 1,770 deaths in China and give outside of China.