Princess Cruises says ten passengers including two Australians tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus on board a crowded cruise ship that is now quarantined off Yokohama, Japan.

The Diamond Princess has around 3,700 passengers and crew on board.  It was supposed to go on an eight day cruise from the lively Japanese port city.  Now, it has set out to sea only to perform routine maintenance task such as generating fresh water and gathering ballast, while food will be brought on board when it returns in short order.

Japanese heath officials began testing the passengers after it was revealed that an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who sailed on the vessel last month tested positive for the 2019-nCoV Wuhan Coronavirus - suggesting that the virus lingers in a given environment for quite a while after an infected person has left.  So far, a few hundred people have been tested.

Passengers are being supplied with telephones and internet to stay connected with loved ones and employers for what could be a longer stay than they had planned on - the Heath Ministry says the ship must remain in quarantine for 14 days.  The ten or so people who tested positive actually get to leave the ship; they're being taken to local hospitals.

The Wuhan Coronavirus causes pneumonia-like symptoms that killed 490 globally, 479 in Wuhan City, China.  The vast majority of fatalities were elderly or had compromised immune systems.  The global number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now well over 24,000, again with the vast majority in China.