Coronavirus Pandemic | Live Updates on Covid-19 – Part 1

2:32 AM, February 15, 2020 (ET)

Americans to be evacuated from Diamond Princess tomorrow:

The US Embassy in Tokyo has announced detailed plans for a voluntary evacuation for US citizens on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship and their immediate family. Evacuation via a Chartered flight on Sunday. Those who choose to return to the US on a charter aircraft will be required to undergo another 14 days of quarantine. Infected Americans will be staying in Japan. The flight with the passengers will land in California and Texas.

1:35 AM, February 15, 2020 (ET)

The US State Department has announced that it would evacuate about 380 Americans who are currently on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked under quarantine in Japan, once the quarantine lifts next week. The quarantine is scheduled to end on February 19. The cruise ship is carrying more than 3,700 people and is under quarantine since February 4. So far, 219 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed on the ship.

12:46 AM, February 15, 2020 (ET)

Beijing is setting stricter Quarantine rules. The mandate came as the Chinese government disclosed that hundreds of medical workers who had been helping combat the coronavirus outbreak had, in fact, become infected with the virus and at least six have died. According to the figures released by Chinese authorities, the death toll has surpassed 1,500 and the number of infections now exceeds 66,000.

12:45 AM, February 15, 2020 (ET)

Hong Kong Disneyland has agreed to lend vacant sites to the government as potential quarantine facilities, said city officials in a press conference. However, the government has not released any plans on how to use the designated site. There are currently confirmed 56 cases of novel coronavirus in Hong Kong.