First passengers leave ship

High and dry: A passenger leaning on the guard of a balcony on the ‘Diamond Princess’. — AFP

Yokohama: The first passengers began leaving a quarantined cruise ship off Japan’s coast to finish their isolation in government-designated lodging after testing negative for Covid-19 (novel coronavirus).

Japan’s government has given passengers aged 80 or older in poor health or confined to windowless inner cabins on the Diamond Princess the chance to move from the ship to accommodation on land yesterday.