'Improvement in condition of 2 Indians infected with coronavirus on board cruise ship off Japanese coast'

condition of two Indian crew infected with coronavirus onboard a cruise ship off Japanese coast is stable and improving, Indian embassy in Japan said on Thursday as authorities confirmed that 218 passengers have been infected with dely disease.

Indian nationals are currently in a medical facility under quarantine as per Japanese health protocol, an Indian embassy official told PTI. "We have established contact with doctor treating m and have been told that ir condition was stable and improving. y will be put to ar round of tests in next few days and furr treatment will be carried out based on results," he said.

cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3,711 people on board arrived at Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger, who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong, was found to be carrier of vel virus on ship. A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and six passengers, were on board ship.

Sonali Thakkar, 24, from Mumbai, who is part of security team onboard cruise ship, told an American news channel that she and her colleague became ill with a heache, cough and fever two days ago. She has been asked by her supervisor to stop working and she is currently staying in her cabin in isolation.

"I'm t eating very well and have been having fevers. We all are really scared and tense," she told American TV channel in a Skype call on Wednesday. Thakkar said that re are some crew members whose job it is to serve food to isolated passengers and those on security team who h been working around infected people.

"And n we all eat toger. re are many places where we all are toger, t separated from each or. Especially when we sit in same mess hall and eat toger, place where it can spre very fast. "re are many more crew members who have been isolated to ir cabins who are t even being tested yet," she ded.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Indian embassy is in constant touch with crew and passengers, and rendering all necessary support and assistance. "Our Embassy @IndianEmbTokyo is in constant touch with crew & passengers of #DiamondPrincess off Yokohama, Japan, rendering all necessary support & assistance. Passengers & crew are currently quarantined by Japanese authorities," he said in a tweet.

"Two Indian crew members have tested positive for #Coronavirus. Will keep you updated," he said in ar tweet. On Wednesday, Indian embassy said in a statement that due to suspicion of vel coronavirus infection, ship has been quarantined by Japanese authorities till February 19, 2020. All infected people have been taken to hospitals for equate treatment, including furr quarantine, in accordance with Japanese health protocol, it said.

Indian embassy was in touch with Japanese authorities to ensure welfare of Indian nationals on board ship as well as possibility of ir early disembarkation, in case y are t found to have tested positive for virus, it said.

"ne of Indian nationals have complained of discriminatory treatment meted out to m," it said, ding that mission has been in constant touch with ship manment company- Princess Cruises (for crew members) and employer of six passengers to tie up ir travel back to India.

Those on ship have been asked to wear masks and allowed limited access to open decks as y are vised to remain in cabins most of times to contain spre of virus, according to media reports.

Carnival Japan Inc., Japanese branch of Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., which operates ship, on Monday vowed to refund all 2,666 passengers due to onboard outbreak of new coronavirus. company will ditionally cover all costs incurred by those quarantined aboard ship since last Tuesday when passengers were originally scheduled to disembark at Yokohama.

death toll in China's vel coronavirus outbreak has spiked to 1,367 with 254 new fatalities, highest for a single day, reported mostly from worst-affected Hubei province while confirmed cases of infection jumped to nearly 60,000, health officials said on Thursday.

coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year. virus was officially named "COVID-19" by World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday. Several countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to country.