First Ukrainian to Contract Coronavirus Confirmed

A Ukrainian national, a crew member at the Diamond Princess cruise ship that is docked near the Japanese coast on a quarantine, is confirmed to have contracted coronavirus.

This was reported by the Associated Press that quote the Japanese authorities.

3,700 passengers and crew members are confined aboard the Diamond Princess docked at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. Out of 3,700, 25 are Ukrainian citizens.

According to the information provided by the passengers and cited by The New York Times on the morning of February 9, 70 people on board of the ship are infected with the virus.

Later on February 9, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirmed six more cases.

The ship is currently on a two-week quarantine. The passengers that are confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus are sent to hospitals in Japan.

As of February 9, 811 people have died from the outbreak of coronavirus that started in in the Chinese city of Wuhan (Hubei Province) in December 2019.

The coronavirus death toll has now surpassed that from the 2002-2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency on January 30.

READ MORE: Ukraine Says It Has a Plan to Prevent Entry of Coronavirus