Japan detected 99 cases positive for corona virus, bringing the number of infected people on the Diamond Princess yacht to 454.

Japan's Ministry of Health today said there were 99 more cases on the Diamond Princess yacht being isolated at Yokohama port. It is unclear whether this result included 14 US citizens who were positive for corona virus but had been boarded or not.

The new infections bring the total number of people infected with nCoV on the yacht to 454. The 14-day isolation period for yachts will end on February 19. Princess Diamond Cruise is now the second largest Covid-19 outbreak outside of China.

Diamond Princess, carrying 3,711 passengers and crew members, was quarantined as of Feb. 4 in the Port of Yokohama, Japan after a tourist from Hong Kong last month was positive for nCoV.

The Japanese Ministry of Health initially planned to isolate all passengers and crew until February 19. However, officials on Monday decided to allow passengers over 80 years old and their companions to leave the ship ahead of time after the test. People with underlying medical conditions or who are in a closed cabin are given priority to get off the train first.

The US State Department earlier this morning took two planes to evacuate more than 300 citizens from the ship and one of them landed in US territory. Australia, Canada, Italy and Hong Kong are also planning to evacuate citizens from the yacht.

The Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan, China in December 2019, appearing in 27 countries and territories, causing 1,775 deaths and 71,330 cases.

Japan has the second highest number of nCoV infections after China. In addition to the cases on the Diamond Princess yacht, the country recorded 65 cases of infection, including an 80-year-old woman in Kanagawa Prefecture who died on February 13.