(Image source from: moneycontrol.com)

The cruise liner Diamond Princess was docked off at the Yokohama Port on the 3rd of February and the people on board the cruise ship have been tested for the deadly coronavirus and it has been found that sixteen Indians have been tested positive for the coronavirus test.

The arrangements are now being made by the government of India in order to bring back the rest of the Indians by a special flight on the 26th of February. It has been said by the Indian embassy in Japan that the government would facilitate the ones who would fulfill the conditions and also the consent for repatriation.

The details of the plan of evacuation have been shared through an email by the government of India where in it has been mentioned that a chartered flight would be sent by the Indian government in order to carry all the Indian nationals on board the Diamond Princess provided that the passengers do not test positive in the PCR test which would be conducted by the authorities of Japan.

Another condition that has been mentioned was that a consent will have to be provided by the passengers in order to return and this has to be done before the expiry of the mandatory Japanese quarantine requirements.

The people who have agreed to the conditioned would have to undergo a quarantine period of fourteen days in India prior to which a medical team of India will also conduct check- ups on the passengers to ascertain the medical conditions.

The special flight has been scheduled on the 26th of February during the evening hours and the arrangements would be made by the authorities of Japan for the passengers from the post of Yokohama to the Haneda Airport.

According to the reports, it has been mentioned that a total number of 138 Indians are on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess which also includes the 132 crew members.

The coronavirus which is officially named as COVID-19 is a deadly virus which was first observed in the Wuhan city of China and it had been infecting several people. The first death report due to the deadly COVID-19 has been first recorded in Philippines. The deadly coronavirus has spread rapidly across over 25 countries and it has been claiming lives of several people and infecting many more.

According the reports from the Chinese officials, the death toll from the deadly coronavirus has reached 2,663 while the number of cases where it has been confirmed of people being infected has jumped to 77,658.

By Shrithika Kushangi