Yokohama (Japan) (AFP)

The United States began to evacuate in the night from Sunday to Monday of the American nationals in quarantine off the coasts of Japan, passengers of a liner where 355 cases of the new coronavirus were noted.

Several dozen buses came to pick up the cruise lines, which then had to leave on two planes bound for the United States, where they will have to observe a quarantine of 14 days.

The Diamond Princess was quarantined on February 5 with its 3,711 passengers and crew for 14 days after a positive test on a cruise ship landed in Hong Kong. As of Sunday, 355 people were declared infected and hospitalized.

But without waiting, faced with the worsening situation and given doubts about the effectiveness of the measures taken, several countries decided to evacuate their nationals who appeared to be healthy and placed them in their respective countries for fourteen days in quarantine.

The United States thus as of Saturday addressed to the approximately 350 American passengers a letter to give them this option.

Among the passengers, Sarah Arana, 52, from California, in contact with AFP, confirmed that she was on one of the buses and said that she had passed a makeshift passport control without medical examination.

"I'm happy and ready to go," she said from the boat. "We need a real quarantine and it was not one."

- Refusal to leave -

The US government should have intervened "much earlier, from the start," she said.

"It was too much for Japan and they should not have had to bear the whole burden," she added. "The Japanese people did not deserve this. I am very grateful."

But other Americans on board refused to leave, although it was told that they would not be able to return to their country for two weeks, followed by a negative test.

"Why would I want to get on a bus and a plane with people who I think may be infected when I spent almost two weeks isolated from them?" Tweeted Matt Smith, a lawyer. American on the ocean liner with his wife.

To support his point, he described the behavior of a compatriot who shouted "USA, USA" from his balcony as the buses approached before later transporting them.

"And of course, against all quarantine rules, she is not wearing a mask and chatting with a passenger from the adjacent balcony (...) and you want me to take the bus with her?"

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said today that only 1,219 passengers had been tested for the virus.

- "New phase" -

Japan was unable to test everyone on board due to an insufficient number of tests, locations and manpower, also required to examine suspect cases ashore.

But the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that passengers over the age of 70 are being screened and those with a negative and healthy test will be allowed to leave the ship from Wednesday.

Testing of younger passengers was scheduled to start on Sunday and healthy people will be allowed out after Wednesday, the ministry said.

The Hong Kong government has also said it wants to repatriate its people - 330 nationals - "as soon as possible".

Canadian authorities have taken a similar initiative for about 250 Canadians, including "to ease the burden on the Japanese health care system".

Australian media have reported that Canberra is also considering the option of evacuation.

In addition to the cases on the ship, Japanese authorities have identified 59 carriers of the coronavirus in different regions of the country.

Japanese Minister of Health Katsunobu Kato warned on Sunday that Japan was entering a "new phase" of this viral infection, the country finding day by day additional cases among people who did not go to China, center of the epidemic, and having had no contact with visitors from China.

He called on people to avoid "non-essential" gatherings and crowded rush hour trains.

qt-ah-sah-uh / jpc

© 2020 AFP