Hours after Japanese authorities quarantined Israelis who tested positive for the novel coronavirus Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would make sure other Israelis who were traveling with them on the same cruise boat would be brought home swiftly.
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"Those who have not contracted the virus, will arrive back home; those who were found to be carriers of the virus will stay there and we pray for their recovery," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The three are the first known Israelis to have been infected with the virus. They are in good condition, local authorities said.
The three have been traveling on the Diamond Princess cruise liner, which has docked off the Japanese coast for the past week because of a coronavirus scare that has so far seen at least 175 of its passengers infected.
So far, none of the 60,000 infections worldwide have reached Israel itself.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the remaining Israelis on the cruise will "transported to Israel and will be placed in isolation." He said that a private plane has been chartered and that the costs would be covered by insurance companies.
