Two Serbians from quarantined cruise ship fly back to Europe: Married couple on their way to Serbia

Foto: Tanjug/AP, Privatna arhiva

Two Serbian citizens, married couple Dragan and Svetlana Sevic, who were quarantined on a cruise ship in Yokohama, have boarded a flight to Europe, Serbian Ambassador to Japan Nenad Glisic has confirmed for RTS. They should arrive in Belgrade at any moment.

The other 12 Serbian nationals - crew members on the ship - received an offer from the company to leave the ship immediately if they are healthy, the ambassador said.

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The two Serbian citizens were quarantined because of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan's port of Yokohama.

Photo: Tanjug/AP

"Today after 14 days, two of our citizens were taken out of quarantine. We escorted them to the airport in an embassy car and the last we know is that they checked in and will be in Serbia soon," Serbian Ambassador to Japan Nenad Glisic told RTS last night.

As for the other 12 Serbian citizens - crew members - they received an offer from the company to leave the ship immediately if they are healthy, the ambassador says.

Glisic points out that the situation is changing every day.

"First we expected that for the rest, for the crew there would be 14 days of quarantine left, and now the situation is changing, so whoever tested negative can get off the ship. As for the other 12, they are still quarantined, still on board, five have been tested, two negatively which is good news and three are still awaiting their results. So for now, the situation is good, and we hope that it will remain so until the end," says Glisic.

Photo: Tanjug/AP

The Serbian citizens who choose to fly back to Europe will be able to do so together with Italians, whose plane is still waiting in Tokyo.

On Wednesday the first group of 500 passengers have left the ship, that has been docked near the Japanese city of Yokohama since February 5 due to the epidemic. Passengers who tested negative for the virus were allowed to leave the ship.

All passengers are expected to disembark by the end of the day, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said, noting that only after that, the company would make a decision on the dynamic according to which crew members would also leave the ship.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health of Japan, a total of 79 new positive cases were registered on Thursday, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections on board the ship to 621 out of 3,011 people tested so far.

Two passengers, elderly Japanese nationals, died as a result of coronavirus.

The quarantine ship docked in Japan is the largest hotspot of the virus outside of China.

VIDEO: Passengers leaving the Diamond Princess: Over 500 people infected aboard the cruise ship

(Telegraf.rs)