Latest from our news desk on coronavirus:
Two more Ukrainians aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan have been infected with the new coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease, bringing the total number to four.
All four are hospitalized in Tokyo, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kateryna Zelenko said on February 27.
“At the moment, the [health] condition of our compatriots is satisfactory. The consulate is maintaining contact with the hospitalized Ukrainians,” she said.
There were 25 Ukrainians aboard the vessel, all crew members. The ministry spokeswoman said the other Ukrainians remain aboard the U.S.-owned cruise ship. Twenty-four of them have said they don’t want to be evacuated to Ukraine.
A total of 705 of the more than 3,700 people on the cruise ship have been infected and eight deaths have been recorded due to the illness.
The ship was quarantined for two weeks until February 19. Some passengers who tested negative for the respiratory virus have been allowed to disembark. Others are awaiting permission to leave.
Ukraine has no confirmed cases of the virus inside the country.
As of the morning of February 27, the coronavirus has infected 82,500 people worldwide and killed 2,810, mostly in China.
Besides China, where the virus originated in December, and the cruise ship, virus clusters exist in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE.)
