Taiwan to send plane to evacuate citizens from virus-hit ship in Japan

Taiwan plans to send a chartered flight this week to evacuate its citizens from a virus-hit cruise ship in Japan, the Taiwan government said on Wednesday. The plane will arrive in Japan as early as Friday afternoon, Deputy Health Minister Ho Chi-kung told reporters.

More than 20 Taiwanese were on the Diamond Princess cruise liner, which has the biggest concentration of coronavirus infections outside of China. The ship, operated by Carnival Corp, was quarantined since arriving in Yokohama Feb. 3. (Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar)