Fourteen US citizens who were evacuated from a quarantined cruise ship have been flown home - despite being found to have COVID-19 on the way to the airport.
Two charter flights carrying some of the 380 Americans on board the Diamond Princess ship moored at Yokohama Port near Tokyo had left Japan for America on Sunday, the US State Department said.
Passengers were tested for the virus 2-3 days before being allowed off the ship, but once they had begun heading to the airport, officials received notice that 14 of them tested positive - despite being found "fit to fly".
Passengers who were known to have tested positive for the virus before the leaving the ship were told they would not be able to board the flight back to the US, but exceptions were made for those already heading to the airport.
Once on board the flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, those who had tested positive were moved to the back of the plane in a "specialised containment area" to be isolated - even thought they did not display any symptoms.
The flights appear to have landed at US airforce bases, and the repatriated passengers will now have to spend another two weeks in quarantine at a military facility.
Of the 3,500 people on board the ship, 369 have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
