Eleven Americans have been confirmed among 61 passengers aboard a quarantined cruise ship in Japan who have coronavirus, according to reports.
The nearly 3,700 other passengers and crew are confined to their cabins aboard the Diamond Princess cruise under a 14-day quarantine.
On Thursday, authorities confirmed 41 new cases of the virus aboard the ship; eight Americans are among them.
Previous reports said three Americans were among the 20 passengers removed from the ship earlier this week and taken to local hospitals.
Meanwhile, another ship with more than 2,000 passengers won't be allowed to enter Japan after the country's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said there were reports of passengers on board with the virus.
The Seattle-based operator of the Holland America's Westerdam has denied the claims.
The ship was located near Ishigaki, one of Okinawa's outer islands, and was seeking another port, said Overseas Travel Agency official Mie Matsubara.
"Everyone is starting to reject the ship and we are getting desperate," she said, according to NBC News. “We hope we can go somewhere so that passengers can land.”
No Americans were reported aboard a World Dream cruise that is also currently quarantined in Hong Kong.
Elsewhere, reports were circulating that Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line would prohibit guests holding passports from China, Hong Kong and Macau from its ships until further notice.
In New Jersey, 27 Chinese nationals were screened after getting off a Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas cruise that docked Friday morning. Four among them showed coronavirus symptoms and were taken to University Hospital in Newark to be isolated, according to reports. The other 23 were seeking flights back to China.
As of Friday, there were 12 diagnosed cases of the virus in the United States.
About 540 Americans are quarantined at two military bases in California, according to The Associated Press.
More Americans were evacuated from the epicenter of the outbreak in China late Thursday, as two chartered planes carrying about 300 left Wuhan, the U.S. State Department said Thursday.
— Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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