New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS): Amid the passengers quarantined at Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, the India embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday said the disembarkation of the passengers from the cruise ship is likely to continue till February 21.

The embassy tweeted: "From today, disembarkation of passengers only started, likely to continue till 21 Feb."

The embassy, through its tweet, also informed the Ministry of External Affair here that one Indian crew, who was infected with COVID-19, was taken to the hospital for treatment on Wednesday.

"1 Indian crew who tested positive for #COVID19 among 88 new cases yesterday on #DiamondPrincess taken to hospital for treatment. Indians receiving treatment responding well."

Meanwhile, hundreds of US nationals began disembarking the cruise ship on Wednesday (local time) even when the two-week quarantine of the vessel was to end soon, but the number of cases of COVID-19 continued unabated.

The United States Centers for Disease Control reportedly expressed the risk of carrying the virus by the passengers, even if they had met Japan's requirement for testing negative for novel coronavirus.