The Ocean Viking, the new rescue boat of SOS Méditerranée and Médecins sans Frontières, on August 4, 2019 in Marseille. - CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP

The 274 people rescued recently off the coast of Libya by the ocean rescue vessel Ocean Viking will land in Sicily where they will be placed in quarantine, the NGO SOS Mediterranean and the Italian Interior Ministry announced on Sunday. As a precaution, "the migrants will be kept in quarantine" in the Sicilian town of Pozzallo and the staff of the isolated ship on board "as long as necessary," said the Italian Interior Minister, who did not give more precision.

🔴 3rd operation in 48 hours: 92 pers. in a distressed inflatable boat were rescued by the # OceanViking in trying conditions. The survivors, incl. women and children, were very weak when they were found near the Sabratha oil rig. pic.twitter.com/flWvJ9ff35

- SOS MEDITERRANEE France (@SOSMedFrance) February 19, 2020

Italy is facing an abrupt increase in cases of new coronavirus. A dozen cities in the north of the country were quarantined this Sunday, with entry and exit prohibited. The number of cases now stands at "more than 100", according to the President of the Lombardy region Attilio Fontana.

Three important rescue operations

"Relief aboard the Ocean Viking this morning when we announced to the survivors - rescued during 3 separate operations this week - that Italy has just assigned them a safe place", tweeted this Sunday SOS Mediterranean, charterer of the ship in partnership with Doctors Without Borders. "The ship is now on its way to Pozzallo in Sicily for the landing," continues the Marseille-based NGO.

Early Tuesday morning, the Ocean Viking had rescued 84 people fleeing Libya, then 98 others at the end of the day. The next day, the ship also rescued 92 people in distress in an inflatable boat.

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