A bus with a driver wearing full protective gear departs from the dockside next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port, Japan, on Feb 14, 2020. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

HONG KONG - Forty-five Hong Kong passengers who disembarked from the Diamond Princess cruise ship will board a chartered flight arranged by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government to return to Hong Kong.

READ MORE: Cruise ship: 2 chartered flights to evacuate 360 HK residents

The plane is expected to touch down in Hong Kong on early Thursday morning. 

Hong Kong Under Secretary for Security Sonny Au Chi-kwong said that more than 50 Hong Kong passengers aboard were confirmed to have been infected with the novel coronavirus. They will stay in Japan for treatment.

A total of 230 Hong Kong passengers have agreed to take the chartered flights back to Hong Kong, while 16 have declined the offer and the rest have yet to decide

Seven Hong Kong passengers, who are among the 52 to have completed their quarantine on the ship and allowed to leave on Wednesday, will not board the chartered flight Au told the media at the Ōsanbashi Pier, where the cruise ship is moored. 

Another chartered flight will depart Hong Kong on Thursday to pick up the remaining Hong Kong passengers upon the time they are allowed to leave, Au said. If not all of them can leave on Thursday, the Hong Kong government will arrange a third charter flight to repatriate the remaining passengers, he added.

A total of 352 Hong Kong residents were on board the cruise ship when it was put under quarantine at the Japanese port on Feb 3. Among them, more than 50 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, and another 30 who had close contact with the patients were listed as high-risk.

A total of 230 Hong Kong passengers have agreed to take the chartered flights back to Hong Kong, while 16 have declined the offer and the rest have yet to decide. 

Hong Kong health officials have met with some Hong Kong patients admitted to local hospital and offered to provide assistance, said Director of Immigration Tsang kwok-wai.

Tsang said that the government will arrange to take the patients back to Hong Kong for treatment if the Japanese authorities allow them to leave.

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Passengers from the Chinese mainland and Macao will also take the chartered flight back to Hong Kong. 

According to People’s Daily, there were 21 passengers from the Chinese mainland and five from Macao. Two people from the mainland have tested positive for the virus.