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In my last blog (see Japan MOH: 10 Positive Coronavirus Cases (so far) Aboard Quarantined Cruise Ship ) we saw 3700 passengers and crew were quarantined in Yokohama, Japan aboard the Diamond Princess after 10 cases tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Hong Kong has now announced they have also quarantined a ship - the World Dream - after several recent passengers (who disembarked in late January) tested positive for the virus as well.Unlike with the Japanese quarantine, it isn't clear if there are any active cases aboard this ship. A number of passenger and crew are reportedly mildly symptomatic, and so the ship will be quarantined while tests and an epidemiological investigation are conducted.
February 5th, 2020
The Department of Health has sent quarantine officers to the cruise.
Liang Yaokang, head of port health at the Port Health Department of the Health Protection Center of the Department of Health, said that the World Dream cruise that had carried three patients infected with the new coronavirus was berthed at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, and that the Department of Health personnel were conducting quarantine and epidemiological investigations. He stressed that the Agency would be absolutely prudent in handling quarantine work.
Liang Yaokang, who is in charge of the quarantine work of the World Dream, told the media today that the Department of Health received a report yesterday that three mainland tourists boarded the World Dream ship in Nansha on January 19 to Vietnam, and on January 24 they were diagnosed with the new coronavirus.
According to the shipping company, between January 19 and 24 more than 4,000 people were on board with three confirmed patients, all of whom had left the vessel on January 24, most of whom had landed in the Mainland and about 200 in Hong Kong.
He pointed out: Currently, the cruise ship is berthing in Hong Kong, with more than 1,800 passengers and 1,800 employees, 90% of Hong Kong residents, the rest are foreigners, and there are no Mainland tourists; None of them had been contacted with the three confirmed patients.
The Port Health Section staff of the Department of Health boarded the ship this morning to conduct health quarantine for each passenger and employee immediately after the berthing of the cruise, including the collection of health declaration forms and the testing of body temperature. Before the quarantine work is completed, all passengers and employees cannot leave the ship without the permission of the Department of Health.
It was learned that more than 30 employees reported symptoms of illness, and three of them claimed to have a fever, which has now subsided, and all the employees were in stable condition. Samples from one of the employees who developed the disease responded positively to influenza B. For the sake of prudence, the Department sent the three employees to a public hospital for isolation and test for a new coronavirus.
As for the remaining employees who reported mild upper respiratory tract infections, such as cough and sore throat, the department will also collect their samples and send them to the public health testing center for new coronavirus tests.
The Chinese government has decided to take further health and quarantine measures, which will be carried out in the near future, Liang said.
