65 more infections confirmed on Japan cruise ship
Print Edition
ANOTHER 65 people aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the health ministry said yesterday, bringing the total number of known infections to 135.
The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who got off the ship last month in China’s Hong Kong.
“Test results from 103 people have now come out and 65 of them are confirmed positive for the new coronavirus,” the ministry said in a statement without mentioning their nationalities.
Authorities have continued to test people for the virus where “necessary,” the statement added.
The cruise ship operator said 66 people had been newly diagnosed, mostly Japanese, but there were also Australians, Filipinos and a Canadian, a Brit and a Ukrainian. There was no immediate clarity on the discrepancy between that figure and the health ministry’s.
When the boat arrived off Japan, authorities initially tested nearly 300 people for the virus of the 3,711 on board, gradually evacuating dozens who were infected to local medical facilities.
In recent days, testing has expanded to those with new symptoms or who had close contact with other infected passengers or crew, and several more cases were reported over the weekend.
Those who remain on the ship have been asked to stay inside their cabins and allowed only briefly onto open decks. They have been asked to wear masks and keep a distance from each other when outside, and given thermometers to regularly monitor their temperatures.
The ship is expected to stay in quarantine until February 19 — 14 days after the isolation period began.
The quarantine has made life on board the ship difficult, particularly for those in windowless interior cabins and many passengers who require medication for various chronic conditions.
The health ministry said yesterday that around 600 people on board urgently needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters that discussions were ongoing about how to increase testing capacity and also whether testing would take place after passengers are released from quarantine.
The World Health Organization confirmed in a tweet that newly diagnosed cases on the ship should not extend the length of the quarantine.
“The quarantine period of the #DiamondPrincess will come to an end on 19 February,” the WHO said in a tweet.
There are 26 confirmed cases of the new virus in Japan apart from the infections on board the ship, among them citizens evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak emerged.
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