Coronavirus cases in Japan surpass 200

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Japan climbed to 203, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to Kyodo news agency, Japan’s Health Ministry said 40 more people -- including a quarantine officer -- have tested positive on a cruise ship, bringing the total number of infected people on the vessel to 174.

Around 3,700 passengers and crew from 56 countries and regions are on board the vessel -- Diamond Princess -- currently quarantined at a dock in Kanagawa province, south of the capital Tokyo.

The vessel was quarantined at the dock after a man disembarked in Hong Kong was found to have been infected with the virus.

The infected people on the ship include 21 Japanese, eight Americans, five Australians, five Canadians and one each from Argentina and the U.K.

The ship returned last week to the port city of Yokohama after visiting Kagoshima, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa.

The World Health Organization has named the novel coronavirus -- which originated in China’s Wuhan city in December last year -- as Covid-19 that has killed around 1,114 people in China alone.