Washington, Feb 15 (TIWN) The US has announced that it will evacuate American citizens trapped aboard the coronavirus-hit quarantined cruise ship, Diamond Princess off the coast of Yokohama in Japan.

The news, first reported late Friday evening by the Wall Street Journal, indicates that two planes will be sent by the U.S. State Department to evacuate Americans as soon as Sunday, according to Henry Walke, Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections.  Any citizens without symptoms of COVID-19 will be allowed to board the flights which are likely headed to Travis Air Force Base in California, the same place where many of the people evacuated directly from Wuhan remain in quarantine. The passengers are likely to be quarantined there for a further 14 days after arrival to make sure they pose no threat to the U.S. public.