US evacuates from Japan virus ship as China death toll climbsUS passengers board a plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport to fly home after they left the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship off Yokohama. YOKOHAMA, Japan: The US flew home its citizens from a coronavirus-infected cruise ship in Japan Monday, with other nations preparing to follow suit as global concerns grow over the spread of the disease and the death toll at its Chinese epicentre topped 1,700. The US embassy in Japan confirmed two jets had left Japan en route to the US. It was not immediately clear if they were already counted among the 355 known cases on the ship. Fears are growing for passengers on the Westerdam cruise ship, who all received a clean bill of health when they disembarked in Cambodia -- a staunch ally of Beijing.

Source: Bangkok Post February 17, 2020 02:48 UTC