by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:35 AM ET, Wed February 19, 2020
Government officials in Japan have announced that passengers who have been quarantined on the Diamond Princess ship will begin leaving the vessel Wednesday.
According to CNN.com, Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga revealed that a few hundred passengers who have tested negative for coronavirus are expected to leave the Princess Cruises' ship each day for the next three days.
Officials from Princess Cruises announced passengers would not be permitted to leave until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result certification, which will be issued by Japanese health authorities.
Japan's health minister Katsunobu Kato said passengers cleared to leave the Diamond Princess will need to find their own way home from the port and may be required to use public transportation to reach the nearest airports.
Of the more than 3,700 passengers and crew members onboard the ship, around 3,000 were tested for the coronavirus and about 620 cases have been confirmed. Over 300 U.S. citizens and family members were evacuated from the vessel Sunday.
As a result of the passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) laid out new travel restrictions for each traveler returning to the U.S. and revealed more than 100 U.S. citizens were still on the ship or in hospitals in Japan.
In total, 14 evacuated American passengers developed symptoms only after leaving the vessel and another case was confirmed among the travelers sent for quarantine at a military base in California.
Another portion of the industry being impacted by the coronavirus is travel agents and advisors, with some reporting a drop in cruise bookings by as much as 10 to 15 percent.
A Travel Weekly readers' poll also found that 63.8 percent of agent and advisor respondents had clients cancel trips due to fears associated with the outbreak.
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