It's believed that two passengers onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship which has been swamped with coronavirus in Japan have died, according to NHK.
The outlet claims that a man and woman in their 80s have died, claiming an unidentified government source released the information.
Diamond Princess, a British-flagged ship arrived in the Japanese city of Yokohama on February 3rd with around 3,700 on-board the vessel following a passenger being diagnosed with the virus.
So far, over 600 passengers have tested positive for coronavirus.
Passengers have since been disembarking from the ship which is operated by Carnival Corp.
NHK claims that the evacuation process will be completed by tomorrow.
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Over 100 Hong Kong residents who were quarantined on the ship in Japan for over two weeks landed on Thursday morning and will face a further period of quarantine.
The passengers arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight, with the 106 passengers being part of the first set of government arranged rescue flights.
Local authorities have said that 55 of the 364 Hong Kong residents on the vessel were infected by the virus – they will remain in Japan with a further 33 people who have been in close contact with them.
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Those arriving in Hong Kong from the cruiseliner are being taken into quarantine at a housing estate in the New Territories region of the city.
Recently, hundreds of protesters took to the street over plans to turn buildings into quarantine centres. Some claimed that they had waited years to move into the Chun Yeung estate where passengers will be held.
Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong has urged residents to accept the quarantine plans.
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The city has confirmed 65 cases of the virus and has recently recorded its second death from the outbreak.
Some protesters have called on Lam to close the border which connects with mainland China.
She claims that closing the border would be inappropriate, impractical and discriminatory.
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