- Home
- China
- World
- Europe
- Politics
- Business
- Opinions
- Tech & Sci
- Culture
- Sports
- Travel
- Nature
- Picture
- Video
- Live
- TV
- Specials
Share
Copied
Buses carrying American evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship leave the runway at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on February 17, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas. (Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images/AFP)
In this image from a video taken on Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, U.S. passengers who were evacuated off the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess, board a Kalitta Air plane bound for the U.S., at Haneda airport in Tokyo. (Cheryl and Paul Molesky via AP)
In this image from a video taken on Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, U.S. passengers who were evacuated off the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess, board a Kalitta Air plane bound for the U.S., at Haneda airport in Tokyo. (Cheryl and Paul Molesky via AP)
In this image from a video taken on Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, Paul Molesky, right, and Cheryl Molesky, who evacuated off the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess, film selfie video aboard a Kalitta Air plane bound for the U.S., at Haneda airport in Tokyo. (Cheryl and Paul Molesky via AP)
A US passenger waves to reporters while arriving at the Haneda Airport, in Tokyo on February 17, 2020 after disembarking in Yokohama from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where people are quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Americans began leaving a quarantined cruise ship off Japan on February 17, 2020, to board chartered flights home as the number of new coronavirus cases diagnosed on the vessel jumped to 355. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Diamond Princess cruise ship, with people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, is docked at the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 16, 2020. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
Passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who are quarantined due to fear of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, walk on the deck of the ferry docked at the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 16, 2020. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
Hundreds of people evacuated from the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan arrived in the United States on two chartered flights late Sunday and early Monday.
The planes landed at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and passengers will now face another round of quarantine - though this time on land.
The U.S. quarantine will last 14 days, which follows their shipboard confinement that began Feb. 3.
The passengers were offered evacuation due to the high risk of the virus, the U.S. State Department said.
A total of 340 U.S. passengers were transported from the cruise ship to Haneda airport in Tokyo.
Some U.S. citizens opted to remain on the ship to avoid another quarantine or the chance they might catch COVID-19 from other evacuees.
On Monday, Japan said that there were an additional 99 coronavirus cases diagnosed on the ship, bringing the total number of infected to 454 -- about 1 in 8 of the original passengers and crew on board.
Of the newly evacuated U.S. citizens, 14 tested positive for the COVID-19 but were allowed on the flight to the United States because they did not show symptoms.
U.S. officials said those passengers were kept isolated on the flight.
Similar evacuation flights are planned to return other passengers to Australia, Canada, Italy and Hong Kong.
Story with information from the Associated Press.