A former guest from Hong Kong had been on the ship and later tested positive, which set off testing for 273 people who either showed symptoms or had close contact with that patient. — Arata Yamamoto, Yuliya Talmazan and Phil Helsel
Taiwan bans international cruise ships from docking
Taiwan’s health authority banned all international cruise ships from docking at the island from Thursday amid increasing threat of the outbreak.
It came in the wake of the 20 confirmed cases of coronavirus aboard the cruise ship quarantined near Japan.
Taiwan’s government also said on Thursday it would suspend most visa applications from Hong Kong and Macau starting from Friday. — Reuters
Another cruise ship still quarantined in Hong Kong
Hong Kong authorities quarantined a cruise ship for a second day on Thursday as they checked thousands of passengers and crew for coronavirus.
Hong Kong’s health ministry said Wednesday three people who tested positive were on board the World Dream cruise ship during a previous voyage that took place between Jan. 19 and 24.
The ministry said 3,600 passengers and crew members are currently on board.
The cruise ship was originally bound for Taiwan, but had to return to Hong Kong after Taiwanese government stopped it from proceeding to its port of call in Kaohsiung. — Jasmine Leung and Reuters
Americans from Wuhan arrive in the U.S.
Hundreds of U.S. nationals, who were evacuated from Wuhan, arrived in the U.S. Wednesday.
The first airplane with repatriated U.S. citizens landed last week at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California. All of the passengers are under federal quarantine orders for 14 days since they left Wuhan.
The same will be true for the 178 passengers who arrived Wednesday at Travis Air Force Base, southwest of Sacramento, California.
A child on the plane developed a fever during the flight and was hospitalized with a parent in isolation pending testing for the coronavirus.
Several more planes from Wuhan are expected to arrive at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska. — Erika Edwards
China cut tariffs on U.S. imports as it struggles with coronavirus outbreak
China cut tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. imports including soybeans, pork and auto parts Thursday in a trade truce with Washington while Beijing struggles with the virus outbreak.
The reductions follow American tariff cuts last month on Chinese goods.
There was no indication Beijing altered its own cuts in response to the rising cost of efforts to contain a virus outbreak that have depressed business activity by closing factories, restaurants and shops. — Associated Press