Roughly 3,700 passengers are trapped onboard the Diamond Princess at Port City Yokohama and they are not expected to leave prison-like conditions for two weeks. An 80-year-old Hong Kong man tested positive for the virus on board the cruise ship and ten further cases have been confirmed since including several British tourists.

David Abel, who is quarantined onboard the cruise ship in Japan, said: “For the first time ever we have seen the crew wearing facemasks.

“So far 493 people have died from the coronavirus according to the European Centre for Disease and Prevention Control.

“They haven’t been wearing them until serving breakfast and lunch today. They knock on the door, they hand over a tray of food.

“It is very brief there is no physical contact apart from touching the tray.

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“Supplies have been brought onto the ship but the challenging situation for me is I am an insulin-dependent diabetic.”

All known passengers who have coronavirus have been taken off the ship however, the quarantine is still in place in case anyone else tests positive for the virus.

Mr Abel added: “We have been breathing the same air.

“I would imagine in the next five weeks every passenger will again be tested to see if they have the virus.”

The cruise ship is of particular concern because it has the perfect conditions for viruses to spread.

The cruise ship has tourists from a wide variety of nations interacting in close proximity of each other, allowing the virus to quickly spread.

Similar precautions are expected around the world and Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he expected more lockdowns and quarantines this morning.

A cruise ship with 1800 people onboard is expected to be but into quarantine in Hong Kong Same in Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong has consequently stepped up its preparations to deal with the virus.

From Saturday no one who has been to China in the last two weeks will be allowed into the country.

The same policy is currently in place in Indonesia while the US, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand are among the countries to deny entry to foreign nationals who have been in China recently.

Sky correspondent Tom Chesire had to report from home because he was banned from the newsroom since he had been in Wuhan in the last two weeks.

Mr Chesire and his Sky News colleges will not be allowed back into Sky’s Beijing Office until they are certain they do not have the virus.

More than one hundred Britons are still in Wuhan who are hoping to escape.

The foreign office is expected to send a second flight to Wuhan to pick up any remaining Britons on Sunday.

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