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Five days ago 3700 passengers and crew aboard the Diamond Princess were ordered quarantined in Yokohama, Japan after one of its passengers disembarked in Hong Kong on Jan 25th and was subsequently diagnosed as being infected with the novel coronavirus.
During the 1st 48 hours of testing - which focused on 273 people (120 symptomatic & 153 close contacts) - 61 people tested positive. The hope was that the remainder were not exposed, and could be released after a14 days hold.Overnight, however, those hopes were dashed when 6 more people were tested (presumably due to new symptoms), and 3 tested positive for the virus. Those cases have been moved to hospitals ashore.
We have this brief (translated) statement by Japan's MOH:
New Coronavirus Infections Confirmed on a Cruise Ship Called at Yokohama Port (Report 4)
The cruise ship “Diamond Princess”, which arrived at Yokohama Port on February 3, is undergoing quarantine at sea, but three out of six new test results for the new coronavirus have been identified. Coronavirus positivity was confirmed. She has already been transported to a medical institution and is hospitalized.
A total of 64 out of 279 people tested positive.
It is not immediately clear whether this will `restart the clock' on the 14 day quarantine period as was suggested earlier this week during a WHO conference call, or if the original Feb 19th end date still stands.
The one thing that is certain is the quarantining of several cruise ships this week will have a chilling effect on the travel and leisure industry. Yesterday, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines - in an attempt to reassure passengers - temporarily banned tourists with Chinese, Hong Kong, or Macau passports.
The knock-on effect of this coronavirus epidemic - even though it remains far short of being a pandemic - is considerable, and is only expected to grow in the days to come.
