Matthew Smith, one of the nearly 400 Americans quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship for two weeks amid an outbreak of the coronavirus aboard, said on “America’s Newsroom” on Monday that he and his wife are glad they decided not to evacuate and fly back home with the group because some of those Americans tested positive for the virus shortly before boarding the planes.

The U.S. State Department sent two chartered planes to Japan Sunday night to evacuate the Americans who remained quarantined aboard the cruise ship, which has docked at Yokohama, a port city southwest of Tokyo.

Passengers and crew have been subjected to a 14-day quarantine, which was due to end Wednesday. On Monday, Japan confirmed 99 more cases of people infected by the new virus on the quarantined ship, bringing the total to 454, according to the Health Ministry, which has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew members on the ship.

The virus emerged in China late last year, and outside of the country, the ship has had the largest number of cases.

The ministry said it now has tested 1,723 people on the Diamond Princess, which had a total of about 3,700 passengers and crew members.

US TO FLY HOME CITIZENS IN CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINE ABOARD DIAMOND PRINCESS CRUISE SHIP

Host Ed Henry noted on Monday that 14 American passengers aboard the cruise ship quarantined in Japan tested positive for the coronavirus before they boarded the U.S. State Department chartered flights back to the U.S.

The State Department made the announcement on Sunday, citing tests given before the Americans boarded the planes.

Speaking via Skype, Smith, who refused to get on those planes, told Henry on Monday, “We didn't believe the conditions were safe to break the Japanese quarantine and put us all together in those conditions and, in fact, now having learned that they put 14 infected persons on the planes, we're all the more glad that we remained.”

Smith, an American lawyer, said he and his wife are “both well.”

“We have no symptoms of the virus, no cough, no fever and we're feeling fine,” he said.

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He added that they both have been tested for the coronavirus.

“We haven't received results yet, but we have no reason to expect we're infected,” he said.

When asked about the conditions on the ship, Smith said, “Princess has done a wonderful job of providing the conditions for a quarantine.”

“We’ve been in our cabin for two weeks, but we are fed three meals a day and additional food beyond that, provided fresh linens and towels upon request, so the condition inside the cabin is really no different than it was during the cruise, it’s just there’s no option to get outside the cabin.”

When Henry asked Smith how they are passing the time, he said, “Frankly, boredom is the least of our problems because from within a few days of the quarantine beginning, I reactivated my dormant Twitter account and my days are filled with communicating with friends and talking to journalists all over the world.

“So we've been anything but bored during this time of the quarantine,” he continued.

The quarantined passengers who were earlier found to be sick with the virus have been hospitalized in Japan.

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Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy are planning similar flights for their citizens.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.