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Israel: Cruise Passenger Flown Home from Japan Has Coronavirus

Masked passengers look on from on board the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port, south of Tokyo, Japan, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Masked passengers look on from on board the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port, south of Tokyo, Japan, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Israel: Cruise Passenger Flown Home from Japan Has Coronavirus

Masked passengers look on from on board the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port, south of Tokyo, Japan, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Masked passengers look on from on board the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port, south of Tokyo, Japan, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

One of the 11 Israelis who were flown home after being quarantined on the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first case to be reported inside Israel, the Health Ministry said Friday.

The Israeli cruise ship passengers, who had all initially tested negative for the new coronavirus, arrived on a charter plane overnight. They were met by medics in protection suits and immediately taken to the Sheba Hospital in the central town of Tel Hashomer, where they will be kept in quarantine.

Another four Israelis were hospitalized in Japan after testing positive for the virus.

The new coronavirus, which causes the illness recently named COVID-19, has infected more than 76,000 people in 27 countries and caused more than 2,200 deaths since it was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

The Diamond Princess docked at a Yokohama port has the most cases of the new virus outside of China, with 634 confirmed by late Thursday. Two former passengers have died.

Dozens of foreign passengers were flown back to their home countries on flights chartered by their governments.

Israel has canceled all flights to and from China, and is requiring Israelis returning from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore or Thailand to be quarantined at home for two weeks.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was "inevitable" that the COVID-19 outbreak would reach Israel.

He urged health authorities to focus on developing a vaccine.

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China Anchors ‘Monster Ship’ in South China Sea, Philippine Coast Guard Says

An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)
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China Anchors ‘Monster Ship’ in South China Sea, Philippine Coast Guard Says

An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday that China's largest coastguard vessel has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbor.

The China coastguard's 165-meter "monster ship" entered Manila's 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay Tarriela told a news forum.

The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine's EEZ and asked about their intentions, he said.

"It's an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard," Tarriela said. "We're not going to pull out and we're not going to be intimidated."

China's embassy in Manila and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's coast guard has no publicly available contact information.

The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was anchored 800 yards away from the PCG's vessel, Tarriela said.

In May, the PCG deployed a ship to the Sabina shoal to deter small-scale reclamation by China, which denied the claim. China has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands in the South China Sea, building air force and other military facilities, causing concern in Washington and around the region.

China claims most of the South China Sea, a key conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, as its own territory. Beijing rejects the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which said its expansive maritime claims had no legal basis.

Following a high-level dialogue, the Philippines and China agreed on Tuesday for the need to "restore trust" and "rebuild confidence" to better manage maritime disputes.

The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States, its treaty ally, to assist operations in the South China Sea, despite a flare-up with China over routing resupply missions to Filipino troops on a contested shoal.