THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 20, 2020 at 17:50 JST
YOKOHAMA--Two Japanese passengers of the coronavirus-infested Diamond Princess cruise ship died after being infected with the disease, which hit two more government workers aboard the vessel, officials said Feb. 20.
The deceased, a man and a woman both in their 80s, had been hospitalized after testing positive for the disease on the Diamond Princess now anchored at Yokohama Port.
The male passenger, a Kanagawa Prefecture resident, developed a fever on the ship on Feb. 10 and was sent to a medical institution the following day, the prefectural government said.
After he tested positive for the virus on Feb. 12, the man’s respiratory functions worsened. He was treated with a respirator but died on Feb. 20.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Japan is now three. An elderly woman in Kanagawa Prefecture died earlier this month.
The health ministry on Feb. 20 also said two officials who worked on the same team on the cruise ship from Feb. 12 were confirmed infected with the virus.
One of the officials is in his 40s and from the health ministry, while the other is a Cabinet Secretariat worker in his 30s, the ministry said.
Earlier, a quarantine officer who had boarded the Diamond Princess was found infected with the coronavirus.
About 3,700 passengers and crew members were aboard the cruise ship when it was quarantined at the port about two weeks ago.
As of Feb. 19, 621 have been confirmed infected with the new coronavirus among 3,011 tested. The infected people have been sent to medical institutions.
Twenty-nine of those infected are in serious condition. Some are now being treated in intensive care units.
Hundreds of passengers who tested negative started to disembark on Feb. 19.
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