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Japan to begin moving some off quarantined cruise ship
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Feb 14, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Japanese authorities were
preparing Friday to move some older passengers who test negative for new
coronavirus off a quarantined cruise ship and into government-designated
lodging.
The move comes a day after the number of infections diagnosed on the
Diamond Princess rose to 218, with fears growing for the health of some of
the several hundred people on the ship aged 80 or over.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters that the first passengers who
want to leave the ship would be taken off later Friday, though details of how
many will come off and where they will go remain unclear.
Senior health ministry official Gaku Hashimoto boarded the ship Friday
morning to announce that all passengers “who are considered to be high risk
in general health” would now be tested for the virus.
“Those who test positive will be transferred to the hospital. Those who
test negative will — at the request of the individual — disembark and be
transferred to accommodation provided by the government,” he said in a
statement in English read out by the ship’s captain in a public broadcast.
“We are aware that many people are worried and concerned about the
situation. However, to improve the situation as much as possible, the
government is making its best efforts,” the statement said.
There were more than 3,700 people on the ship when it arrived off the
Japanese coast last week, but those diagnosed with the virus have been taken
off the boat, along with some people suffering other health conditions
requiring medical attention.
Ten of those hospitalised are now in serious condition, Kato said on
Friday.
Excluding the cases on the ship, and an infected quarantine officer,
Japanese authorities have so far diagnosed 33 people with the newly named
COVID-19, including a man in Chiba, east of Tokyo.
The newly diagnosed cases include a woman in her 80s whose positive test
result emerged after she died in hospital.
The woman was reportedly the mother-in-law of a taxi driver in Tokyo who
has also been diagnosed with the virus.
– Doctor, patient infected –
A doctor in Wakayama prefecture and a patient who was treated in the
hospital where the doctor worked have also been diagnosed.
Officials in the region said they were still not sure if the doctor had
infected the patient.
“It is difficult to trace the route of the infection”, governor Yoshinobu
Nisaka told reporters.
He said officials were asking people in the area “to report suspicious
cases of pneumonia so that we can immediately conduct tests”.
The hospital has been closed to visitors and medical staff are now being
tested for the virus, Nisaka added.
Despite the new infections, government officials sought to play down
concerns about the spread of the virus in Japan.
“There is not enough epidemiological evidence to suggest that the epidemic
is spreading inside Japan,” government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told
reporters.
“We will keep collecting epidemiological information including on the
routes of infection.”
The Diamond Princess has been quarantined off Japan since early February
after it emerged a former passenger who got off the boat in Hong Kong had
tested positive for the virus.
The quarantine is due to end on February 19 and those on the ship have been
mostly confined to their cabins and asked to wear masks and keep their
distance from other passengers during brief outings on open deck.
Crew on board have expressed concern that their conditions — including
shared cabins, bathrooms and workspaces — put them at greater risk of
contracting the virus.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0956 hrs