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A British honeymooner told today how he is one of 61 people hit with coronavirus on a cruise ship quarantined in a Japanese port.
Alan Steele is one of 41 new cases confirmed overnight and was being taken off the Diamond Princess, docked in Yokohama just south of Tokyo, for hospital treatment. He is the second Briton to be diagnosed with the virus.
“Just to let you all know I have been diagnosed as having the virus and am being shipped to hospital,” he wrote on Facebook. “Would also like to say that at the moment I am not showing any symptoms so just possible a carrier. Will let you know how I am going on when possible.”
Mr Steele’s wife Wendy, a nurse, is understood to not be displaying symptoms and to still be on the luxury liner, where about 70 Britons are among 3,700 passengers and crew.
Fellow passenger David Abel, 74, said in a Facebook video that he had been dining with Mr Steele, from near Wolverhampton.
He added: “I have no idea how he must be feeling. They’re on their honeymoon. He will be going off in to quarantine in a medical facility and she has to stay on board the ship because she’s not displaying symptoms. That’s going to be really, really tough for him.”
Military medics were being deployed on board to help deal with the outbreak amid worries over the infection’s spread.
Japan’s health ministry said none of the new cases were showing “severe symptoms” but one person, with a pre-existing medical complaint, was said to be seriously ill.
“The fact that the numbers appear to be increasing so rapidly is of great concern,” said Professor Stanley Deresinski, an infectious disease specialist at Stanford Health Care.
Passengers, who have been told to self-isolate, are growing increasingly alarmed and some are complaining that the captain has been barred from informing them of new cases, despite ambulances arriving to take victims to hospital.
An elderly passenger from Florida told CNN: “We are scared… I don’t want to leave this ship in a box.”
Fellow passenger Yardley Wong tweeted: “#day3 #coronavirus #CoronaOutbreak #quarantine on #DiamondPrincess oh gosh. One infected passenger in serious condition. Pray for him/her.”
Princess Cruises confirmed that among the 41 new cases there were 21 from Japan, eight from the US, five from each of Canada and Australia, and one from the UK and from Argentina.
So far, 273 passengers and crew have been tested and health chiefs were considering more checks. British consular staff are providing support to Mr Steele and his family.
The latest official figures from China put the number of cases at 31,161, with 636 deaths.
However, British health chiefs say modelling suggests the real number of cases already is probably significantly higher than 100,000, and that the number of deaths will inevitably go up. The number of new cases is still believed to be doubling about every five days.
Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the true number of coronavirus cases could be 10 times higher than currently reported.
He said: “There is mild disease that may be missed and somebody doesn’t seek healthcare… It’s not unusual to only capture 10 per cent of the cases.”
A middle-aged British man was being treated for coronavirus today at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Wuhan, China: Coronavirus – In pictures
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A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan
AFP via Getty Images
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The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
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A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China
Reuters
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Officers in protective gear escort a person who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and had tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
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Quarantine Officials on the Diamond Princess cruise ship
PA
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A chartered passenger jet carrying evacuated citizens from China taxis on the runway after landing at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
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Getty Images
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A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
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A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
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Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty Images
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French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China
AFP via Getty Images
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Staff members of a funeral parlour wearing protective suits disinfecting a colleague after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province, during the virus outbreak in the city
AFP via Getty Images
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Base personnel patrol inside a gate at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
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A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
15/47
Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China
REUTERS
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An ambulance carrying a South Korea citizen repatriated from Wuhan, China who has shown flu-like symptoms during in-flight screening for novel coronavirus leaves Gimpo airport
Getty Images
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Coaches enter RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where a plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
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Medical staff walk to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore
AFP via Getty Images
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Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
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Empty racks where face masks are usually sold at a DIY store in west London. Pharmacies are working to boost stocks as demand for face masks in the UK appears to be on the rise amid fears about the coronavirus
PA
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Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok
AFP via Getty Images
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People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
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A man hoards the last few bottles of alcohol left in a pharmacy, after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
24/47
Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a woman’s temperature on the underground in Beijing
Getty Images
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An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city
AFP via Getty Images
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Passengers in the arrivals concourse at Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
27/47
Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AP
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An arrivals board showing a cancelled flight from Wuhan to Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
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Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
AP
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Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
AFP via Getty Images
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Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
AP
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Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
AP
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Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
Getty Images
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A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
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Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
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Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
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A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
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An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
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A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
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Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo b
AFP via Getty Images
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An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
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Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
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CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
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The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
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Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
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Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
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A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
1/47
A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan
AFP via Getty Images
2/47
The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
3/47
A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China
Reuters
4/47
Officers in protective gear escort a person who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and had tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
5/47
Quarantine Officials on the Diamond Princess cruise ship
PA
6/47
A chartered passenger jet carrying evacuated citizens from China taxis on the runway after landing at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
7/47
Getty Images
8/47
A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
9/47
A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
10/47
Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty Images
11/47
French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China
AFP via Getty Images
12/47
Staff members of a funeral parlour wearing protective suits disinfecting a colleague after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province, during the virus outbreak in the city
AFP via Getty Images
13/47
Base personnel patrol inside a gate at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
14/47
A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
15/47
Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China
REUTERS
16/47
An ambulance carrying a South Korea citizen repatriated from Wuhan, China who has shown flu-like symptoms during in-flight screening for novel coronavirus leaves Gimpo airport
Getty Images
17/47
Coaches enter RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where a plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
18/47
Medical staff walk to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore
AFP via Getty Images
19/47
Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
20/47
Empty racks where face masks are usually sold at a DIY store in west London. Pharmacies are working to boost stocks as demand for face masks in the UK appears to be on the rise amid fears about the coronavirus
PA
21/47
Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok
AFP via Getty Images
22/47
People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
23/47
A man hoards the last few bottles of alcohol left in a pharmacy, after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
24/47
Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a woman’s temperature on the underground in Beijing
Getty Images
25/47
An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city
AFP via Getty Images
26/47
Passengers in the arrivals concourse at Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
27/47
Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AP
28/47
An arrivals board showing a cancelled flight from Wuhan to Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
29/47
Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
AP
30/47
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
AFP via Getty Images
31/47
Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
AP
32/47
Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
AP
33/47
Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
Getty Images
34/47
A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
35/47
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
36/47
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
37/47
A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
38/47
An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
39/47
A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
40/47
Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo b
AFP via Getty Images
41/47
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
42/47
Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
43/47
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
44/47
The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
45/47
Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
46/47
Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
47/47
A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
He is understood to have been transferred from Brighton, after reportedly going to A&E, and is believed to have caught the infection in Singapore.
The man is the third case in the UK, with two family members who had arrived from China being treated at a specialist unit in Newcastle.
The Government is now urging travellers from countries including Singapore, Thailand, Japan and South Korea to self-isolate if they begin to feel unwell.
Other countries on the list are Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Macau, as well as mainland China. Anyone arriving from these locations should stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if they develop symptoms such as a cough, fever or shortness of breath, the advice warns.
The Foreign Office has advised Britons in China to leave and a last government-chartered repatriation flight will depart from Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, on Sunday.
More than 80 UK citizens and family members who were the first to fly home from Wuhan and be quarantined at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral have been told they can leave next Thursday.
The group are spending 14 days in isolation but will be released next week as long as they remain symptom-free.
Restrictions have been placed on other cruiser liners.
Some 3,600 passengers and crew, including 66 British passport holders, are reportedly unable to leave the World Dream in Hong Kong, after three Chinese passengers who were on the ship between January 19 and 24 tested positive after disembarking.