ATHENS – Two Greek citizens who were among the passengers quarantined on the “Diamond Princess” cruiseship due to an outbreak of coronavirus in Asia, have been repatriated, the Greek Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The cruiseship is docked in Japan.

“The two Greek citizens who were on board Diamond Princess were repatriated today through Italy, in the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism,” a statement by the ministry on Twitter said.

It added, “We thank the Italian Foreign Ministry and the staff of Greek embassies in Beijing and Tokyo for their efforts in the safe return of Greek citizens from China and Japan.”

The two Greek nationals boarded a chartered airplane of the Italian government in Tokyo on Friday, along with other European citizens, and deplaned at the military airbase of Patricia Di Mare in Rome. There they were placed under the care of a medical unit of the National Organization of Public Health, following a specific protocol.

On Saturday, the two, who are showing no symptoms of the coronavirus following checks in Japan and Italy, were transported by specialist medical staff to the Pulmonary Hospital “Sotiria” in the Athens area which is serving as one of the national checkpoints for the virus.

They will be quarantined and observed by doctors for the next two weeks.

Earlier on Saturday, two Greek nationals who had been repatriated on February 9 from China were released from Sotiria in good health.