The Diamond Princess has ended its quarantine and the first group of 500 passengers disembarked on Wednesday. There were 3,700 passengers and crew on board.The first group that was allowed to leave the ship was mostly elderly and among them were five Taiwanese.
There were 18 Taiwanese passengers on the cruise and two Taiwanese cruise employees. Over 500 passengers have been confirmed to have COVID-19 and among those cases are four Taiwanese who have been sent to the hospital for treatment.
Taiwan’s China Airlines will send a charter plane to take the Taiwanese passengers home on Friday. Taiwan’s representative to Japan Frank Hsieh said that some Taiwanese will remain in Japan for treatment. Those who return to Taiwan will be quarantined for two weeks after they arrive. Hsieh expressed his gratitude for the cooperation of Taiwan citizens as the government works to contain any spread of COVID-19.