Tokyo, February 16: There are 70 new cases of COVID-19 (the new coronavirus) onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off Yokohama, according to Japan's Health Minister Katsunobu Kato. COVID-19: Coronavirus Death Toll Rises to 1,665 in China as New Cases Slow.

The minister said during a Sunday programme on NHK that the total number of coronavirus infected people on board the ship now stands at 355. The US embassy in Japan announced earlier that it was planning to start evacuating US citizens off the ship on Sunday evening local time.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)