Swiss passengers allowed to disembark quarantined ship in Japan
Two Swiss passengers stuck on the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan after cases of coronavirus were detected on board can now leave the vessel.
The 14-day quarantine of the ship ended on Wednesday. The Japanese authorities have begun disembarking passengers and the procedure could take several days. The ship carrying about 3,700 people - about half of them from Japan - was quarantined on February 3 off the coast of Yokohama south-west of Toyko. At least 634 people on board were infected as of Thursday and two elderly passengers died.
“The Swiss Embassy in Tokyo is in regular contact with the two Swiss nationals concerned on the "Diamond Princess" by e-mail and telephone. They are in good health,” said the foreign ministry in a statement on Thursday.
A group of some 50 Swiss nationals in China recently sent a letter to the Swiss government complaining that they feel forgotten by Swiss authorities during the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
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