US evacuees from Diamond Princess start flights home

American passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan began boarding buses for charter flights to the United States.

Fourteen passengers who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 were allowed to board the flights but were isolated from others.

These individuals were moved to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft.

All passengers are being closely monitored during the flights, with symptomatic individuals moved to the containment area for treatment.

The first flight is scheduled to land at a US Air Force base in California, where all passengers will undergo a 14-day quarantine.

A second plane is heading to a base in San Antonio, Texas, for further quarantine.

More than 600 people are already in quarantine in the United States after being evacuated from Wuhan, China.