Australians arrive home for quarantine after weeks on coronavirus cruise ship

More than 150 Australians arrived home on Thursday to begin two weeks of quarantine after finally disembarking a cruise ship docked in Japan where more than 600 people have contracted the newly identified coronavirus.

The Diamond Princess, owned by Carnival Corporation, has been quarantined at Yokohama near Tokyo since February 3, initially with 3,700 people aboard - including 220 Australian holidaymakers. Australia has prevented anyone but citizens and permanent residents from entering the country directly from mainland China since Feb. 1, citing a need to stop the spread of the new flu-like coronavirus that emerged from China late last year.