Coronavirus: infected taxi driver had contact with Diamond Princess passengers in Japan

A taxi driver believed to have had contact with passengers from the luxury Diamond Princess Cruise was among four new coronavirus cases seen in Japan on Friday, as the first passengers from the quarantined vessel were allowed to disembark.

The driver was highly likely to have come into contact with someone on the Diamond Princess when it made a stop in Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, on February 1, said the local government.

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki on Friday said that the driver, in her 60s, was currently being treated at a designated medical facility and she was in a stable condition.

Officials also confirmed two new cases in Tokyo, both of whom had contact with a taxi driver in his 70s whose infection was announced on Thursday. One of the new cases was a worker on a boat where the Tokyo taxi driver had held a party on January 18 with his wife, the Tokyo government said.

The fourth person was a farmer in his 70s who was treated at a hospital in western Japan where a doctor was recently confirmed to have been infected, local officials said on Friday, adding that the two apparently never had any contact.

Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka said, however, he did not think infections were spreading inside the Saiseikai Arida Hospital in Yuasa, where the man was briefly hospitalised from last week.

A local government official warned that infections could be spreading outside of the medical facility as the man developed symptoms before he visited the hospital on February 6.

So far, more than 250 people in Japan – 218 of whom are passengers and crew from a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama – have been found to be infected with the pneumonia-causing virus.

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The new cases came as Japan on Friday began allowing elderly passengers on board the Diamond Princess who tested negative for the new coronavirus to finish their isolation in government-designated lodging onshore.

Passengers aged 80 or older in poor health or confined to windowless inner cabins on the Diamond Princess were given the green light to move from the ship to accommodation on land.

The first of them departed the massive cruise ship on Friday afternoon, travelling in buses with blacked out windows.

At the wheel, one driver was dressed in a head-to-toe white protective suit, complete with goggles and mask.

A government official said 11 people had left, but declined to say whether more would depart Friday or offer further details.

Authorities have vowed to step up testing and efforts to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has infected at least 64,000 people around the world and killed more than 1,300.

“We will stay in touch with local governments and expand our testing procedures and treatment of patients in order to prevent the spread,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, a day after a task force on the disease drew up measures to deal with it, including spending 10.3 billion yen (US$93.8 million) from budget reserves.

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Japan on Thursday recorded its first death from the virus – the third outside mainland China – when authorities said a woman in her 80s had died. She was only confirmed as having the coronavirus after her death.

Despite the new cases, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said there was no evidence the coronavirus was spreading widely in Japan, although he said it might, and the government had to prepare.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has requested for Japan to fast-track viral testing for some 260 Hong Kong passengers quarantine on board the Diamond Princess, the government said Friday.

Fending off criticisms that her administration has neglected Hong Kong people stranded elsewhere due to quarantine measures, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said they were liaising with the Japanese authorities to facilitate the people’s possible earliest return.

“Once we have resolved issues over medical protection, quarantine requirements and transportation arrangements, the government will do our best to arrange for their return to Hong Kong as soon as possible,” Lam told reporters.

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As of Friday, 218 passengers were found to be infected with the new coronavirus, including 11 Hong Kong people. The rest were still waiting to be tested.

“We have already indicated to the Japanese authorities whether they can consider allowing (the Hong Kong people) to do the quarantine on land and also whether (they) can be tested as soon as possible,” Security Secretary John Lee said.

He said a cross-departmental working group would “monitor and liaise” with the Japanese authorities on the timing and procedures for the Hong Kong people’s release.

Additional reporting AFP, Reuters