Two more Indians on board cruise ship test positive for coronavirus: Embassy

Two more Indian crew members onboard a cruise ship moored off the Japan coast have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of infected Indians on the vessel to 14, the Indian embassy said on Monday.

The mission also expressed hope that the last groups of results expected to be announced on Tuesday and Wednesday will not have any more Indian nationals included in it.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people, onboard the Diamond Princess ship when it docked at the Yokohama port, near Tokyo, on February 3.

It was quarantined after a passenger who disembarked last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the disease.

"PCR test results announced today, from the samples collected earlier, including 02 Indian crew members, on board #DiamondPrincess, testing positive for #COVIDー19. A total number of Indian crew members tested positive so far is 14 - responding well to treatment," the embassy tweeted on Monday.

The embassy "hopes that the last groups of results expected to be announced tomorrow and day-after will not have any more Indian nationals included in it, enabling the Embassy to further facilitate Indian nationals on board" the ship, it added.

On Sunday, the mission said 12 Indians, who were earlier tested positive for the COVID-19, are responding well to treatment.

The ship has the largest cluster of COVID-19 cases outside China. Two former passengers of the ship have also died.