Eight UK performers quarantined after evacuation from coronavirus-stricken cruise ship

Eight UK performers are quarantined in a hospital in the Wirral having been evacuated from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship.

The performers were all working on the Diamond Princess ship, which was put on lockdown off the coast of Japan after 10 people on-board tested positive for the virus at the beginning of February. This has since risen to more than 600 passengers, of whom two have died.

The ship was quarantined for two weeks, with dozens of British passengers finally evacuated at the end of last week, returning to the UK on a repatriation flight which landed on February 22.

A spokesman for Princess Cruises confirmed that eight performers on the ship were from the UK. He added that they were now being quarantined in hospital for the next two weeks.

In a statement issued after the plane landed, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said 32 British and European citizens had been brought “safely home from Japan”.

Passengers tested negative for coronavirus upon departure, but are being held in Arrowe Park Hospital for the next two weeks to prevent it spreading in the case of any of them developing symptoms on their return.

On its website, Princess Cruises lists a range of shows as part of on-board entertainment on its ships, including “all new original musicals” created by composer Stephen Schwartz.

There were more than 2,600 guests on-board, and 1,045 crew members.

Richard Jordan: What does coronavirus mean for the theatre industry?