Two of the eight New Zealanders due to fly home from Tokyo this morning have tested positive for Covid-19 and have not been allowed to board the Qantas charter flight to Darwin.
They were diagnosed during final medical checks and are being treated in a hospital in Japan.
Over the past two weeks more than 620 passengers on the Diamond Princess have contracted the the Covid-19 virus, 79 in just the last day.
The 2500 crew and passengers remaining on the ship will be able to go home over the next 2 days but there are fears some of those leaving will be part of a fresh wave of global infections.
