A plane chartered by Taiwan's government on Friday evacuated 19 citizens who were previously aboard the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess docked near Tokyo.
The plane departed in the evening from Tokyo's Haneda airport and was due to arrive in Taipei later in the evening.
There were previously a total of 27 Taiwanese -- 25 passengers and two crew members -- aboard the cruise ship, which has been docked in Yokohama Port, south of Tokyo, since Feb. 3.
Five of them have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and are receiving treatment in Japan, while two others are under quarantine due to close contact with coronavirus patients. Among the 20 who tested negative, one with Taiwan-U.S. dual citizenship did not board the evacuation plane.
The ship was initially carrying around 3,700 passengers and crew from more than 50 countries and regions. It left Hong Kong on Jan. 25 and visited Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa.
The quarantine at the port began Feb. 5 after a passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong on Jan. 25 was found to be infected with the new coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
More than 600 people aboard were infected with the deadly virus and two of them have died.
Upon returning from Japan, the evacuees will be transported to hospitals for further tests for the virus before being moved to quarantine facilities for 14 more days. Nearly 250 Taiwanese earlier airlifted from Wuhan underwent the same procedure.
At present, there are 26 confirmed cases in Taiwan, among whom four have been discharged from hospital after recovery.
Health authorities in recent days confirmed the island's first coronavirus death, a male taxi driver in his 60s with no known history of travel to China.
There are more than 75,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus globally and more than 2,200 deaths, most of them in mainland China.
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