The coronavirus outbreak aboard a Princess Cruises ship quarantined in Yokohama showed no sign of abating on Wednesday as Japanese health authorities reported yet another 39 confirmed cases on board the ship.
The new cases bring the number of infections of the newly named COVID-19 virus on the Carnival Corp subsidiary's 115,900-gt Diamond Princess (built 2004) to 174.
In addition a Japanese quarantine official on board the ship has also reportedly tested positive for the disease.
Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Wednesday that the new cases emerged after a further 53 people on board the ship were tested.
Passengers and crew who test positive are immediately removed from the ship and sent to shore-based hospitals for further treatment.
Kato revealed that four of the victims who were previously sent to hospital are in serious condition, either placed on ventilators or in an intensive care unit.
The Diamond Princess was quarantined on 3 February after a voyage from Hong Kong. The order came after a passenger on the ship's previous voyage later tested positive for the coronavirus.
The quarantine order can be lifted on 19 February at the earliest, although with the spread continuing on board it could be extended beyond that date.
Princess president Jan Swartz said over the weekend that passengers and crew aboard Diamond Princess were the focus of the entire Carnival Corp organisation.
Carnival Corp is one of the worst coronavirus-affected cruise lines. While the Diamond Princess outbreak is doing significant reputaional damage to the Princess brand, another cruise ship belonging to its Holland America brand has also been making headlines as numerous ports in Asia have turned it away over fears that it too has the potential to become a plague ship.
Four China-based ships belonging to the Costa Crociere brand have been temporarily idled.
The deadly coronavirus was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December 2019.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday reported that there were 43,103 confirmed cases globally, with the death toll standing at 1,017.
By Wednesday the number of deaths in China had climbed to 1,113.
The overwhelming majority of infections and deaths have occurred in China.
