Japan said Thursday it would allow some elderly passengers off a quarantined cruise ship and into government-designated lodging, as the number of new coronavirus cases on the vessel jumped to 218.
Thousands of passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess the single largest cluster of infected people outside China face several days more of quarantine.
“The situation on board is getting worse day by day,” 24-year-old ship security officer Sonali Thakkar told AFP.
Britons stranded on the Japanese cruise ship blighted by coronavirus have told how couples are being split up as a result of the deadly disease, according to Daily Mail. David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, are among 2,500 passengers who have been stuck on the Diamond Princess off the Japanese coast since February 3.
The pair told Good Morning Britain that couples are being split up if one of them tests positive for the virus.
Abel said, “It doesn't matter how long you've been married, couples have been separated”.
“Elderly couples in their eighties, have been split up. It’s very very worrying for those on board.”
“We’ve been together 50 years and the thought of one of us being positive and being split is very scary,” his wife Sally added, reports the Daily Mail.
