Launceston woman caught up in coronavirus cruise ship saga

Alana Hoskinson, 59, is travelling with a friend, Diana Headlam, of Hervey Bay, and both are confined to their cabin.

On January 20, the Diamond Princess and its 3600 passengers and crew departed Tokyo. An 80-year-old Wuhan man with the disease disembarked the ship in Hong Kong on January 25. Ten other passengers became infected and the ship has been placed in quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama.

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Now, ten more passengers have tested positive for the disease. The ship is set to be quarantined for the next 14 days.

Of the 20 people who are infected, two are Australians. There are 223 Australians on-board the Diamond Princess.

Ms Hoskinson said she and Ms Headlam were "well but feeling claustrophobic", being stuck in a cabin without a balcony.

"[We] need the TV to know if it is night or day," she said.

"At the moment, we are going with the flow. [There's] no point sweating the stuff we can't change.

"We have requested another cabin so we can at least see sunshine but [we] don't really know if there is anything available."

On Wednesday, Ms Hoskinson said she and Ms Headlam weren't provided with breakfast until lunch-time.

"Diana is type 2 diabetic, so all she really had was a glass of orange juice all day," she said.

"After contacting passenger services, we received dinner last night which was much better and today breakfast was really good: grapefruit, hard-boiled eggs, pastries, hot coffee and orange juice and a menu so we could choose lunch and dinner.

"I feel for the crew and Princess [Cruises] in general [because] it must have been a nightmare to organise food and deliver to more than 2000 people - especially at the end of a 15-day cruise when stores would have been short."

Ms Hoskinson has battled breast cancer in the past but was given the all-clear by doctors two years ago. Since then, she's been on several cruises.

Her cousin, Jessica Hoyle, also of Launceston, said Ms Hoskinson's children and grandchildren were missing her.

"I just want her to [be able to] have at least three or four meals a day ... and have all of her medications," Ms Hoyle said.

"Cruise liners are made for cruises, they're not made to deal with a health pandemic."

In a statement, Princess Cruises said the 10 additional people that had tested positive for coronavirus would be disembarked for transport to local hospitals immediately.

"The health and safety of our guests and crew remains our top priority," the statement read. "We continue to work closely with the Japan Ministry of Health on all protocols and procedures while ensuring the comfort of our guests."

Three Tasmanians tested negative to coronavirus on Thursday. There are no confirmed cases of the disease in Tasmania.