The second group of the passengers from a virus-stricken cruise ship will leave the vessel on Thursday.
The new coronavirus infection has been confirmed in 621 passengers and crewmembers on the Diamond Princess, moored at Yokohama Port, near Tokyo.
Another 79 people on a quarantined cruise ship docked in Yokohama, near Tokyo, have tested positive for the coronavirus. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 621.
The update comes just hours after passengers began disembarking the ship following a two-week quarantine period.
Passengers aboard a cruise ship south of Tokyo have finally started to go home, after spending two weeks in quarantine.
NHK World's Haruka Nouchi reported from Yokohama Port.
Passengers aboard a virus-stricken cruise ship are finally on dry land. Those who served out a 14-day quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess have begun disembarking, with Japanese officials expecting 500 people to do so by the end of Wednesday.
The first group of passengers were required to test negative for the new coronavirus. They also could not have any symptoms.
Japan's health ministry says about 500 passengers are expected to disembark on Wednesday from a cruise ship that has been quarantined at Yokohama, near Tokyo, because of an onboard outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The ministry says passengers who have tested negative for the virus and show no symptoms will start leaving the Diamond Princess on Wednesday following a 14-day quarantine period.
An expert who examined quarantine measures on a cruise ship at Yokohama Port near Tokyo says keeping passengers and crew on board was appropriate for curbing domestic infections.
Professor Shigeru Sakurai of Iwate Medical University led an expert team from the Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control on a two-day inspection on the ship Diamond Princess last week.
The World Health Organization says it is working closely with Japanese authorities and medical officers of the Diamond Princess to respond to coronavirus infections.
More than 450 people on board the cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port have been confirmed to have the virus.
Japan's health ministry says another 44 cases of new coronavirus infection have been confirmed on the cruise ship Diamond Princess.
This brings the number of passengers and crew members found to have been infected with the virus to 218.
Japan's health ministry appears set to launch studies into how to prevent crew on board a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus outbreak from catching the virus.
The move comes as 20 crew members of the quarantined Diamond Princess have tested positive for the virus.
Japan's health ministry says 39 more people on a quarantined cruise ship have tested positive for the new coronavirus. That brings the total number of cases on the vessel to 174.
A quarantine officer from the health ministry has also been infected. The man, who is in his 50s, had been checking body temperatures and collecting questionnaires on the ship early last week.
Officials at Japan's health ministry say 39 more people have been found infected with the new coronavirus on the cruise ship Diamond Princess at the port of Yokohama.
This brings the total number of passengers and crew infected on the vessel to 174.
Authorities in Japan say 39 new cases of coronavirus have been identified on the cruise ship at Yokohama Port.
A total of 174 cases have now been found on the Diamond Princess. A Japanese health ministry official who was conducting an inspection of the ship is infected with the virus.
A team of infectious disease experts began examining a quarantined cruise ship at Yokohama Port on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday evening, 135 cases of the new coronavirus had been found on the Diamond Princess. About 3,600 passengers and crewmembers remain on board the vessel.
A group of infectious disease experts is to survey a cruise ship hit by a coronavirus outbreak to prevent further spreading of the disease.
As of Monday, more than 130 people on board the Diamond Princess docked at Yokohama Port tested positive for the new coronavirus and have been taken to hospital.