New Zealand 2,600 guests and 1,100 members of the Golden Princess yacht crew were banned from landing on the grounds of the discovery of a suspected nCoV infection.

"Everyone on board is not allowed to leave until the test results are obtained," said Ashley Bloomfield, a senior official at the New Zealand Ministry of Health, in Wellington on March 15. The yacht is moored at the port of Akaroa, near Christchurch city of South Island.

Medical forces aboard the Golden Princess were quarantined three passengers, one of whom had symptoms resembling nCoV infection. Bloomfield said New Zealand will not give treatment to the yacht until the test results are available on March 16.

Three days ago, the cruise operator Princess Cruises announced that it stopped traveling worldwide for two months because of Covid-19. The company allows cruises that have departed for 5 days to continue but should stop early in the most convenient location. Princess Cruise has two quarantined yachts and recorded cases on board, including Diamond Princess docked in Japan and Grand Princess docked in California.

The Golden Princess sailed from Australia on March 10, entering the waters of New Zealand before Wellington on March 14 banned all yachts until June 30 to prevent nCoV from spreading.

New Zealand health expert Brian Cox judged that if the Golden Princess recorded the nCoV infection, the remaining passengers should not stay on the yacht. The decision to isolate 3,700 passengers and crew on Diamond Princess in Japan was heavily criticized, after more than 700 people were positive for nCoV.

"The experience from the Japanese is an unfortunate lesson to keep all passengers aboard, this will only spread the virus to many people and the ship becomes a disease spread," Cox said.

New Zealand recorded 8 cases of nCoV after Covid-19 appeared in 153 countries and territories. The New Zealand government requires all international visitors on arrival to quarantine 14 days, similar to Australia's measure.