The Japanese government is ready to help repatriate 78 Indonesian citizens employed as the Diamond Princess cruise liner’s crew members quarantined in Yokohama waters if the Indonesian government decides to bring them home.
"We have not received information about the Indonesian government's policy on the evacuation of Indonesian citizens aboard the cruise liner. However, we will be ready and pleased to cooperate," Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii stated here on Tuesday night.
Ishi noted that the decision to evacuate them is still under the authority of the Indonesian government. The Japanese government is ready to facilitate communication between the Indonesian government and the company operating the cruise liner.
"We are ready to cooperate, but we must continue to communicate with the cruise liner," he noted.
The ambassador stated that the 78 Indonesian citizens aboard the cruise liner are all crew members. However, he did not know the exact number of Indonesian citizens that had contracted the coronavirus, or COVID-19 infection.
"The situation changes every minute. I cannot tell about the exact number of confirmed coronavirus cases," he noted.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had stated earlier in the day that three of the 78 Indonesian nationals working as crew members aboard the cruise ship, quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, had contracted the coronavirus, or COVID-19 infection.
Two out of the three infected Indonesian nationals have been taken to a hospital in the city of Chiba, while the other is in the process of heading to health facilities.
The other 75 Indonesian citizens are being quarantined aboard the cruise liner until Wednesday (Feb 19).
With an additional three cases of Indonesian nationals, the total number of cases testing positive for COVID-19 on the cruise ship currently reaches 446.
The ship has onboard 3,714 people, including 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members from 56 countries.
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