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CHINA-VIRUS-HEALTH-JAPAN-SHIP LEAD
Japan cruise ship now has 135 coronavirus infections: government
TOKYO, Feb 10, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Another 65 people aboard the quarantined
Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel
coronavirus, the health ministry said Monday, 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 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.
Four of the 65 patients had been sent to hospital, a ministry official
told reporters, adding that more test results were pending.
The official declined to comment on the nationality of those infected, but
said that the ministry “aims to report them by the end of tomorrow”.
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, a Canadian, a Briton
and a Ukrainian. There was no immediate clarity on the discrepancy between
that figure and the health ministry.
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.
The number of passengers and crew on board has since declined to 3,622,
the ministry official said.
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.
– ‘Stress and high anxiety’ –
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 a significant number of passengers
who require medication for various chronic conditions.
The health ministry said Monday 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.
“The period will be extended beyond the 19 Feb as appropriate only for
close contacts of newly confirmed cases. They need to remain in quarantine
for 14 days from last contact with a confirmed case.”
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.
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.
Japan is planning to send a fifth evacuation flight to Wuhan later this
week, local media said.
BSS/AFP/ARS/2012 hrs