The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
British man on Diamond Princess cruise ship dies
Tourist is first Briton to have died from the illness
A British tourist on the Diamond Princess cruise ship has died from coronavirus.
The Japanese Ministry of Health said the man was the sixth person from the ship, which has been quarantined off the country’s coast amid the outbreak, to have died.
He is the first Briton to have died from coronavirus, also known as Covid-19.
In the UK, 20 people have now been diagnosed with the illness, after Wales reported its first patient and three more sufferers were identified in England.
It emerged last night that the 20th sufferer had contracted the disease within the UK. It was not yet clear how.
Health authorities ordered a 14-day quarantine for all on board the Diamond Princess, which had an original population of 3,711 passengers, on February 5.
Passengers who had tested negative were allowed to disembark at the end of the two weeks.
Health minister Jo Churchill has said she was aware a British man who had been on board the ship was “very poorly”. She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “The Foreign Office are supporting the family of a British man who has been very poorly and was a passenger on board the Diamond Princess.
“I haven’t had confirmation because obviously I’m on the telephone to you and I’m sure like me your thoughts and sympathies go out to his family.”
A family member of David and Sally Abel, who had been on board the ship and were both diagnosed with coronavirus, confirmed the couple were “doing well and fighting fit”, adding: “They are getting stronger every day.”
Princess Cruises, which operates the Diamond Princess ship, have offered their condolences to the British man’s friends and family.
Elsewhere yesterday, Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton, said that the first diagnosed patient in Wales had recently travelled back from Italy, the worst-affected country in Europe.
He told the PA news agency that the man had returned from a holiday there last week, and is being treated at a specialist centre in an English hospital.
Those identified in England had recently travelled back from Iran. The virus has spread rapidly across Iran – with 22 dead amid 141 cases confirmed.
Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said the patients have been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres at the Royal Free Hospital in London.