Coronavirus: Princess Cruises boss under fire for blowing kisses at ship where two have died and 3,000 have been quarantined for weeks

Japanese health officials confirmed two virus-related deaths on cruise liner where hundreds exposed to outbreak

A bus carrying passengers who disembarked from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is in quarantine in Yokohama, Japan, following an outbreak of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, 20 February, 2020. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)

The president of Princess Cruises welcomed a coronavirus-quarantined ship by blowing kisses and making heart signs, captured on a video set to upbeat music and posted on social media the same day as reports of the deaths of two passengers had surfaced.

In a video posted to the company's social media on Wednesday, Jan Swartz is seen wearing a surgical mask and forming heart hands over her head as the cruise ship finally begins to disembark after its passengers were forced to remain at a port in Yokohama, Japan for several weeks following a shipwide outbreak of the flu-like respiratory virus.

The message says: "In a continued effort to support our #DiamondPrincess guests and crew, our President Jan Swartz personally welcomed those disembarking in Yokohama today. The entire Princess family is with each and every one of you during this time."

On Wednesday, officials with the Japanese Ministry of Health confirmed the on-board deaths of an 87-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman, both stricken with the latest coronavirus that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and sickened thousands of others around the globe. Both had other health issues, officials said.

Roughly 600 passengers who tested negative for the virus were allowed to leave the ship on Wednesday amid criticism that the the ship did not do enough to contain the outbreak.

Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus

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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus

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  The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak

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  A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama

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  Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo

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  Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong

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  Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL

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  A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced

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  Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans

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  Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China

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  The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths

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  Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai

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  The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center,

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Another 600 people who were on board the ship have tested positive for the virus, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of the ship's 3,700 passengers and crew members.

Ms Swartz was promoted to the cruise company's presidency in 2016. Princess Cruises is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc.

Hours before passengers' scheduled departure, officials confirmed 79 additional cases onboard.

Before the end of their quarantine on the ship, more than 300 Americans were evacuated by US officials and placed in US quarantine for two weeks in military bases in California and Texas.

Fourteen of those passengers tested positive for infection and were hospitalised.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 Americans remain onboard the ship and are prevented from flying into the US until at least two weeks after they leave the ship.