Coronavirus: Over 3,700 people ‘locked’ after man travels in ship

More than 3,700 passengers and crew on a cruise ship quarantined off the port of Yokohama near Tokyo were examined by Japanese officials on Tuesday (February 4) after a Hong Kong man who sailed on the vessel last month tested positive for the deadly novel coronavirus.

The 80-year-old man flew to Japan and boarded the ship, the Diamond Princess, run by Carnival Japan Inc, in Yokohama on January 20 and deplaned in Hong Kong on January 25, the company said.

Japan's Health Minister Katsunobu Kato also told reporters that the country was also preparing to expand the scope of its screening for the virus, and test criteria after initial tests failed to detect the virus in some people who were later found to be infected.

Japan is facing criticism from opposition parties and experts for responding too slowly to the risks posed by the virus spreading in China and elsewhere.

Japan has 20 confirmed coronavirus cases; of these, 17 have been in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the epidemic began.