Britons rescued from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship off the coast of Japan have expressed anger after four fellow passengers tested positive for the illness, despite being cleared to travel back to the UK.

The new cases were transferred from Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral to specialist NHS infection centres, having touched down back in the UK on Saturday not knowing they were carrying the COVID-19 strain.

Two of the patients are in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, one is in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and a fourth was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Image: The passengers were escorted to Arrowe Park Hospital

Sky News has seen several WhatsApp messages shared between frustrated evacuees still at the quarantine facility, angry that those who have tested positive had been allowed to fly.

One wrote: "We were told no one would be on the flight unless they tested negative - that obviously isn't the case."


One said: "They let them fly without the results, so they have put us in a position where we now could have it too."

Image: More than 30 people were on the flight

The four were among 30 Britons and two Irish citizens who flew into the UK, having spent two weeks trapped on the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess.

More than 630 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed among the passengers over the fortnight, almost a fifth of the 3,711 holidaymakers originally on board, and the new UK patients contracted the illness while on the ship.

They were tested in Japan, but - as the results did not come back until Sunday - they were cleared to travel.

Image: The repatriation flight landed at Boscombe Down Ministry of Defence base near Salisbury, Wiltshire

Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, was highly critical of the decision.

"How anybody would think that you could actually take samples from people to make sure they're not positive and then put them on a plane to tell them a few days later is indefensible," he told Sky News.

The Department of Health has insisted that a "full infectious disease risk assessment" was carried out, and no one who boarded the repatriation flight displayed any symptoms.

It previously said that all the evacuees tested negative before getting on the plane.

Image: The Diamond Princess cruise ship

Those remaining at Arrowe Park will be quarantined for two weeks, with "appropriate arrangements" in place including strict separation of passengers from staff and from each other.

Three Diamond Princess passengers have died from the virus - the latest a Japanese man in his eighties who was among the first on board to develop symptoms.

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British couple David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, who were on the cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary, are still in a Japanese hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and pneumonia.

Relatives said the couple are both "having a really tough time" and feel "very much in the dark" in terms of treatment, adding that they are awaiting further tests.

In a more positive development, more than 100 people flown back to the UK from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China have been released from quarantine.

The group - including 10 children and a family of four - spent two weeks at a conference centre in Milton Keynes after being brought back to Britain on a repatriation flight from the city of Wuhan.

Staff on the cruise ship have also been told they can finally leave, prompting a celebratory music video.

Image: Workers in protective gear are seen near the Diamond Princess in Yokohama

While the total number of UK cases now stands at 13, it pales in comparison to Europe's biggest outbreak.

The number of people infected with COVID-19 has jumped to more than 200 in Italy, where five people have died, and at least a dozen towns are in lockdown.

On Sunday evening, Austria refused entry to a train coming from Italy after the Italian State Railways informed Austrian train operator OBB that there were two people with fever symptoms on board.

The operator later confirmed to Sky News that all train traffic to and from Italy had been suspended - but the suspension was lifted within a few hours.

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While most cases and fatalities are still being reported in China, other countries have continued to step up their precautionary measures - with about 380 foreigners having been quarantined in North Korea.

One source reported on Monday that diplomatic staff are not being allowed out of their compounds in the reclusive state or to leave the country - including the British embassy.

More than 2,470 people have been killed by the coronavirus outbreak, most of them in China.

There have been more than 79,000 suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide.