A chartered flight carrying 106 passengers from the virus-stricken cruise ship in Japan arrived in Hong Kong early Thursday, local media reported, as the local government prepared a second flight to evacuate more.
The 106 passengers had already been quarantined for two weeks aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, but were immediately sent to a quarantine center in the Chinese territory upon their arrival to make sure they are free of a contagious coronavirus.
(A bus carrying passengers who will take the flight chartered by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China drives past the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at the Daikoku Pier on Feb. 19, 2020 in Yokohama.)[Getty/Kyodo]
A second chartered plane could leave Japan later Thursday with the remaining Hong Kong passengers who are free to leave the ship after testing negative for the new, pneumonia-causing virus, Security Secretary John Lee said.
"We thank the Japanese government for their great effort during the challenging time so that the first chartered flight can return to Hong Kong smoothly," Lee told reporters.
The first batch of people evacuated to Hong Kong consisted of 88 Hong Kong passport holders and 18 others who have foreign passports, according to the Hong Kong government. Lee said so far no passengers from mainland China have requested the government for help.
Among some 3,700 passengers and crew on the ship, 364 were Hong Kong people.
While 55 Hong Kong people who are found to have been infected with the virus and 33 who had close contact with the patients will stay in Japan for treatment and quarantine, 16 others have decided not to take the chartered flights, Lee said.
On Thursday, a second group of around 500 passengers is disembarking from the vessel, following the 443 who left the ship Wednesday after a two-week quarantine period.
The number of cases confirmed onboard has increased day by day, reaching more than 600 on Wednesday. Two passengers in their 80s, both Japanese, died Thursday after being infected with the virus, the Japanese government said.
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