Operated by Princess Cruises, Diamond Princess was carrying 1,045 crew members and 2,666 passengers. Credit: Alpsdake.

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Read about the effect of coronavirus (Covid-19) on cruise ships.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK has confirmed the evacuation flight for the UK nationals who are on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

The flight will take off from Japan on 21 February to evacuate the citizens on the cruise ship.

The ship carried 78 UK nationals when it was quarantined in Japan earlier this month. Four of the UK passengers were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “We have organised an evacuation flight for British nationals on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship to depart Tokyo on Friday.

“Details have been sent to those who have registered for the flight. We urge other British nationals still seeking to leave to contact us.

“We will continue to support British nationals who wish to stay in Japan.”

It is expected that only passengers who do not exhibit any symptoms will be permitted to board the flight. Citizens who test positive will undergo treatment in Japan.

The passengers will have to undergo an additional 14 days quarantine at Arrowe Park, UK.

The epidemic has so far killed 2,128 and infected more than 75,700 people worldwide. The UK has reported nine cases with no deaths.

Australia evacuates citizens

The Australian government has evacuated approximately 180 citizens on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The citizens will also have to undergo an additional 14-day quarantine period in Darwin. Some passengers who reported to have sore throats and sniffles were isolated and will undergo testing.

Approximately 46 Australians tested positive for the coronavirus (Covid-19) and will undergo treatment in Japan.

Australia has 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with no deaths.

Two Japanese passengers who were on the cruise ship have died due to coronavirus. On 20 February, 634 cases were confirmed on the ship.

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