Italians on ship must return now-Di Maio

(ANSA) - Rome, February 17 - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Monday that the government is at work to bring back the 35 Italians on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan back to Italy as soon as possible. The crew and passengers has been forced to stay on the ship because of an outbreak of the coronavirus on it, with 454 people infected so far.
    "We are working on having a Boeing go at once (to get them)," Di Maio told reporters in Brussels.
    "There is no more time to waste.
    "We have been working non-stop since this morning to have the Italians blocked on the ship return as soon as possible.
    "The aim is to bring them back as soon as possible".
    An Italian infected with the coronavirus has been flown back to the United States from the Diamond Princess because he is married to an American, foreign ministry crisis unit head Stefano Verrecchia told Italian TV Monday.