Coronavirus: 124 evacuees from Japan cruise ship back home, head to quarantine facility in Manesar

New Delhi, Feb 27: As many as 124 evacuees, including 119 Indian and 5 foreign nationals onboard Diamond Princess cruise ship, who were docked off at Yokohama in Japan, were brought back to Delhi in a special Air India flight on Thursday morning.

A special Air India flight carrying 119 Indians and five nationals from Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa, and Peru, landed in New Delhi today.

They will be quarantined in ITBP quarantine facility in Chhawla, Delhi after their thermal screening.

India thanked Japanese authorities for facilitating the evacuation of people.

"Air India flight has just landed in Delhi from Tokyo, carrying 119 Indians & 5 nationals from Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru who were quarantined onboard the #DiamondPrincess due to #COVID19. Appreciate the facilitation of Japanese authorities. Thank you @airindiain once again," tweeted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Embassy of India in Tokyo has established contact with these individuals and is continuously following-up on their recovery.

Only those Indian who have not tested positive for the COVID-19 were scheduled to be brought back.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement said,''Out of 138 Indian nationals originally on-board the Diamond Princess, 16 Indian crew members have tested positive for #coronavirus & are receiving necessary medical care & treatment at onshore medical facilities in Japan.''

The Diamond Princess ship was put under quarantine by Government of Japan on February 5, 2020 for 14 days until February 19, 2020 as one of the passengers who had disembarked from the ship had tested positive for COVID-19.

The quarantine period was extended by the Government of Japan as the crew members were performing their regular duties during the initial quarantine period of 14 days.

Coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people in 37 countries, causing more than 2,600 deaths in the past few months.