CAPE TOWN, March 20 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,200 German tourists will soon be evacuated from a cruise ship off Cape Town amid coronavirus scare, South African Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Friday.

Four chartered aircraft sent by the German government will carry the 1,243 German nationals stuck on the AIDAmira cruise ship that has been docked off Cape Town since Monday.

The passengers are denied entry into South Africa after six of them came into contact with two crew members of a cargo vessel, one of whom had shown coronavirus symptoms.

However, tests of the passengers and the crew members came back negative.

"The AIDAmira's more than 1,700 passengers and crew had not been able to disembark since Monday, 16 March 2020, following the discovery that some of the passengers had come into contact with someone who showed symptoms of the coronavirus," said Mbalula.

Crew members from the chartered aircraft would not be allowed to disembark the plane but would await the arrival of the German nationals, who would be escorted from the AIDAmira and onto the plane, according to the minister.

He did not tell the exact time when the passengers would be evacuated.

South Africa has imposed a travel ban on countries seriously affected by coronavirus, including Germany.

As of Friday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa has surged to 202 within 15 days, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

So far South Africa has seen the sharpest rise in coronavirus cases among Sub-Saharan countries. The country reported its first case on March 5. The first patient diagnosed was said to be almost fully recovered. Enditem

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