Japan finds 65 more coronavirus infections on Diamond Princess cruise ship
- The number of coronavirus cases on board the vessel quarantined in Yokohama has risen to 135
- The health ministry is considering testing all of the 3,700 people aboard the ship when the two-week quarantine ends
That brings total cases on the ship docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, to 135. Officials said they are double checking the results and could not immediately release the exact figure but that would increase Japan’s total number of infections to 161 cases.
Japanese authorities have so far tested about 280 people on board the Diamond Princess, which was placed on a two-week quarantine after a former passenger, who disembarked in Hong Kong last month, was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
About 3,700 people are on board the vessel, which usually has a crew of 1,100 and a passenger capacity of 2,670.
One of those found infected is in serious condition. The government now plans to test dozens more elderly people as it investigates whether there were any issues with hygiene control on the ship.
“We are considering testing, if possible, all those over 80 years old who are in ill health,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday.
The health ministry also said it is considering testing all of the 3,700 people aboard the ship when the two-week quarantine ends. Once their results are clear, they can leave the vessel.
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The ministry had earlier said it might be possible for people to disembark from February 19. But they will have to wait for test results.
“We need to properly address the unease and concerns of our citizens,” health minister Katsunobu Kato said.
The health ministry said that around 600 people on board were in urgent need of medications and around half received supplies over the weekend.
Hongkongers stranded on board have contacted members of parliament asking for assistance.
Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan said some elderly Hongkongers complained they were running out of medication. They included one resident who needed medicine after undergoing a kidney transplant.
“It took very long and they were still waiting for their medication,” she said. “So I know that officers from the Immigration Department had collected the drugs needed from the Hospital Authority last night, flew to Tokyo this morning, and gave those medications to Hongkongers in need.”
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Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, from the Beijing-friendly Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said more needed to be done to assist the Hong Kong residents on the ship.
“Many of them are very worried that the quarantine period will be extended, especially when the ventilation on the ship is not good, and no cleaner was cleaning their rooms or changing their bed sheets,” he said.
“So rather than just giving them medication, can we also send doctors or translators onto the boat because many of the Hongkongers are elderly people who only speak Cantonese?”
Mike Ryan, the World Health Organisation’s top emergency expert, said new cases would push back the quarantine.
“We need to find a way to break that vicious cycle and find a way of organising the patients on board in a way that we can get people off the ship in due course,” Ryan said.
On board the ship, news of the additional infections sparked worry for some, with passenger Yardley Wong tweeting “stress and high anxiety”.
“I need to cry to get off the anxiety,” she wrote.
Passengers also tweeted pictures of new supplies delivered to the quarantined passengers on Monday: wet wipes and heavy-duty filtration face masks.
Ashley Rhodes-Courter, an American whose parents were on the ship, said she hoped US officials would help get them off.
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US company Princess Cruise Lines Limited, which operates the cruise ship, said on Monday that it will fully refund all passengers who were unable to disembark at Yokohama due to the virus outbreak.
The refund will include the cost of the cruise, hotel accommodation prior to and following the cruise, onshore excursions and services used on-board the ship.
Passengers who were transported to medical facilities after testing positive for the virus, or hospitalised for other reasons, will also be eligible.
The company will additionally cover all costs incurred by those quarantined on-board the ship since last Tuesday, when passengers were originally scheduled to disembark at Yokohama.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said that 13 out of 14 foreign cruise lines scheduled to dock in Japan in February have cancelled their tours.
The remaining cruise ship, the US-operated Ocean Dream, is set to dock at Yokohama on Saturday and Kobe on Sunday.
Games organisers have set up a task force to coordinate with health authorities on how to respond to the epidemic.
Japan has already reported 26 cases of the coronavirus, excluding the infections on board the ship, and evacuated hundreds of citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pathogen emerged, including on a fourth flight on Friday.
Additional reporting by Kyodo and Agence France-Presse
