Part of the Italian crew quarantined on a coronavirus-hit cruise liner off Japan may stay on after other Italian citizens aboard the ship are repatriated, foreign ministry crisis unit head Stefano Verrecchia said on Monday.
"The period of quarantine should end on 19 February and passengers should be able to be brought off the ship through 21 February," Verrecchia told state broadcaster Rai.
There are 35 Italian citizens aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, he said.
"Naturally, not all our citizens will be repatriated at the that time because some of the crew are understood to be crucial to the ship's functioning and at least a few may chose to stay on board," Verrecchia added.
Verrecchia praised Japan's authorities, who he said were "doing a noteworthy job, considering there are over 3,000 people (aboard the ship)".
There were 99 new cases of infections aboard the Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454 confirmed cases, Japanese officials said on Monday.
One of the cases is an Italian man - the first Italian to be infected on the ship, according to Verrecchia.
The ship's passengers have been largely confined to their cabins since February 5 with only brief, occasional breaks to take air on deck wearing face-masks.
The Diamond Princess largest cluster of cases outside China amid an outbreak that has killed 1,770 people in China and five elsewhere since mid-December.
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