Condition of 3 infected Indians on board cruise ship off Japanese coast improves: Indian mission

condition of three Indians infected with vel coronavirus on board cruise ship moored off Japanese coast has improved and new cases of infection among Indians on quarantined vessel have been reported, Indian Embassy in Japan said on Saturday.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among 3,711 people on board quarantined ship that arrived at Japanese coast earlier this month.

Three Indians were among 218 people infected with COVID-19 on ship.

Indian Embassy said it was making efforts for early de-boarding of all Indians from ship after end of quarantine period.

"Happy to inform that health conditions of 3 Indians being treated for COVID-19 have improved and new cases of infection of Indians on ship," embassy tweeted.

embassy is in discussion with Japanese government and ship manment company for disembarkation modalities and welfare of Indians, it said.

"We have continued our efforts with all of m for early disembarkation of our nationals after end of quarantine period and subject to favourable results of ir tests for COVID - 19," an embassy official told PTI on Saturday.

ship was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be carrier of COVID-19 on ship.

embassy also sent an email to all Indian nationals on board ship, assuring m of all help and assistance.

y are also requested to follow Japanese government's health and quarantine protocols, embassy said on its Facebook p.

Japanese government on Thursday anunced that passengers d 80 or older will be given option to disembark ship if y test negative for COVID-19. Those who meet requirement and have pre-existing conditions or are staying in rooms without balcony will be prioritised for disembarkation.

Indian national falls under this category, eligible for early disembarkation, statement said on Friday.

death toll in China's vel coronavirus epidemic climbed to 1,523 with 143 new fatalities reported mostly from worst-affected Hubei province, while confirmed cases jumped to over 66,000, health officials said on Saturday.

More than 580 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China and three deaths, one each in Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.

coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year and has spre to several countries, including India.

Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to country.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for use of digital techlogy such as big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to better support epidemic monitoring and analysis, virus tracing, prevention and treatment, and resource allocation.