2 passengers from Diamond Princess cruise ship have died

Two passengers who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died of COVID-19, NHK reported, citing government officials on Thursday.

The passengers were an 87-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman. Both were Japanese and had underlying health problems. They were escorted off the ship last week and had been hospitalized.

These are the first passenger deaths on the ship. There are now 621 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on the ship among approximately 3,700 passengers and crew members.

As of Thursday, three deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in Japan.