Fourteen people who had tested positive for the new coronavirus were among the more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, the US State Department said Monday.
The first plane carrying US citizens evacuated from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan landed at Travis Air Force Base in California late Sunday.
The charter flight touched down around 11:29 pm (0729 GMT Monday) at the base 40 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, an AFP photographer saw.
The passengers will be quarantined at the base for 14 days.
A second flight carrying the rest of the more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship was shortly due to land at another base in San Antonio, Texas.
Fourteen passengers had returned positive tests for the new coronavirus shortly before the flights departed Japan and were transported in an isolated part of the aircraft, the State Department said.
Meanwhile, An additional 99 people have tested positive for coronavirus on a cruise ship off the Japan coast, Japanese media said Monday, citing new figures from the health ministry.
That would take the total number of positive cases on the Diamond Princess to 454. The health ministry declined to confirm the reports immediately.
