New Delhi, February 23: Signaling a major relief for the scores of Indians stranded onboard a quarantined cruise ship off Japan, the Indian Embassy in Tokyo said those not infected by coronavirus would be "facilitated". In a statement issued on Sunday, the Embassy said the results of a key test carried out on the passengers are awaited. Those confirmed to have tested negative would subsequently be reached out for evacuation, the statement indicated.

The ship, a Diamond Princess luxury cruise, is docked off the Yokohama coast in Japan since last month. Over 3,700 passengers and cruise members are onboard the ship, of which nearly 400 have so far tested positive for COVID-19. Among the 132 Indian crew members and 6 Indian passengers, 12 positive cases were confirmed. Indian Stuck on Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Sings Arijit Singh's 'Chal Ghar Chalen Mere Humdum' (Watch Video).

The Japanese authorities have collected blood samples of all crew personnel and travellers onboard. The samples are being used for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests -- considered as most effective to determine whether a person has been infected by coronavirus. The test results are expected by February 25-26.

"Japanese authorities confirmed that samples from all onboard #DiamondPrincess collected for PCR test and being processed. All results expected by 25/26 Feb. Indian nationals on the ship, who would not test positive, will be facilitated by @IndianEmbTokyo soon after," the Indian Embassy in Tokyo said in a statement on social media. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was also tagged in the Twitter post.

See Indian Embassy's Tweet

The Indian crew members, including officer Sonali Thakur, have been sending repeated SOS to the Government of India seeking their immediate evacuation. Those stranded onboard claimed that majority among the Indians are unaffected by the virus, but they may end up contracting the disease if steps are not taken to evacuate them at the earliest. "Ninety per cent of the Indian crew is safe. I want to request Modiji to save us and send us home," chef Binay Kumar Sarkar said in a video posted on Facebook on February 10.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2020 02:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).