UPDATE 1-Another 41 on cruise liner off Japan test positive for coronavirus -govt

Another 41 people on a cruise liner off Japan tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total cases confirmed on the ship to 61, Japan's health minister said on Friday.

The jump in infected passengers on the cruise liner comes as the vessel was under a two-week quarantine with about 3,700 people in it. The new cases were out of the 171 remaining test results, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters.

The rise in the number of infections shifts the mood for thousands of passengers stuck in the cruise who were allowed to breathe air on open decks on Thursday. Kato said that the new patients would be transported to hospitals in Tokyo and other towns.

Live TV footage shows blue and white hoardings put up in the vessel where passengers diagnosed with the virus are moved out to medical facilities. The new cases take the total number of coronavirus infections in Japan to more than 80.

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