An octogenarian woman and man who had been infected died, the public television NHK and other media reported.

Confirmation of this information by the Ministry of Health could not be obtained immediately.

These would be the first fatal cases among the more than 600 confirmed carriers of the virus on the cruise ship.

The two eighty-year-olds suffered from pre-existing conditions and were evacuated from the boat on February 11 and 12, NHK said.

Tokyo announced on Wednesday evening 79 new carriers of the coronavirus on board, bringing the total number of cases listed on the Diamond Princess to 621, making this cruise ship docked in the port of Yokohama, in the suburbs of Tokyo, the largest source of the virus outside of China.


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On Wednesday, 443 passengers disembarked. The evacuation of all passengers should take at least three days.

The symptomless cruise lines, whose tests were negative and who had no contact with people carrying the virus, disembarked throughout the day, after 14 days of quarantine.

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