
As many as 91 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan are confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus.
The vessel, the Costa Atlantica, was taken into a shipyard in Nagasaki in late February by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries after the pandemic scuttled plans for scheduled repairs in China.
Those who have tested negative will be repatriated, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday, according to Kyodo news agency, a decision welcomed by officials in Nagasaki prefecture.
The infections come two months after more than 700 passengers and crew of the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama port were found to be infected.
The Italian cruise ship was carrying 623 crew members and no passengers.
The ship has been in quarantine. Just one of the Nagasaki ship's patients has been taken to hospital with severe symptoms, while those with slight, or no, symptoms stay aboard.
Japan has seen more than 11,500 infections and close to 300 deaths from the new coronavirus, excluding figures from the Diamond Princess.