Japan: Detecting 79 more cases of nCoV on the Diamond Princess yacht, bringing the total number of people on board to 621.

The Ministry of Health announced the results today, when the quarantine period at Yokohama port expires. The 500 passengers today were leaving after test results showed they were negative for nCoV.

With a total of 621 people infected with nCoV, Diamond Princess Cruise became the second largest outbreak in the world, outside mainland China. The yacht carrying 3,711 passengers and crew were quarantined at Yokohama port since February 4 after a Hong Kong tourist who had been on a positive boat with nCoV. During isolation, Japanese health officials repeatedly discovered more people infected with nCoV on board.

Kentaro Iwata, a professor at Kobe University's Infectious Diseases Division, criticized the quarantine on board as "a major failure, a mistake", concerned about the possibility of secondary infection. Meanwhile, Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato insisted the government's handling of the Diamond Princess yacht was justified, saying "according to experts, the risk of infection is under control".

The Covid-19 epidemic caused 2,010 deaths, more than 75,000 infected, mostly in the heart of Hubei, China. Six deaths were recorded outside mainland China in Japan, Hong Kong, France, the Philippines and Taiwan.