Coronavirus News
Last Coronavirus Cruise Passenger Departs Ship, but Infection Concerns Linger – Wall Street Journal
TOKYO—The last passenger on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship disembarked Sunday, the cruise-ship operator said, leaving hundreds of crew members on board and concerns about whether passengers who tested negative could turn positive. Japan reported its first negative-to-positive case over the weekend, a woman living north of Tokyo who developed a fever on Friday…
TOKYO—The last passenger on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship disembarked Sunday, the cruise-ship operator said, leaving hundreds of crew members on board and concerns about whether passengers who tested negative could turn positive.
Japan reported its first negative-to-positive case over the weekend, a woman living north of Tokyo who developed a fever on Friday and was found to have the novel coronavirus. She had disembarked from the cruise ship on Wednesday after receiving a negative test result.
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- Outbreak in Italy leaves two dead and at least 130 people ill; 11 towns in northern Italy have been quarantined
- South Korea reported a jump in new cases, with most linked to a megachurch
- The death toll stands at more than 2,200
- In mainland China, more than 75,000 people have been confirmed infected
- Three Chinese provinces reported outbreaks at penitentiaries
Australia said seven of its citizens who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess tested positive for the virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 18 American passengers were found positive, up from 14 identified just before the repatriation flights took off, while Israel confirmed one new case among 11 people evacuated.
Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said Sunday that in light of the cases, passengers from the cruise ship in Japan would be told to avoid unnecessary trips outside of their homes and to stay away from public transportation.
That was a reversal from the government’s stance when Japanese passengers started disembarking Wednesday. Many took trains and planes to get home with the permission of authorities.
“This is an important period,” Mr. Kato said, pointing to a chart showing a potential spike in cases if proper precautions aren’t taken. “We’re at a point where we can still keep in check the speed of infections spreading.”
Three passengers from the ship have died, all of them Japanese, with the third case reported Sunday. As of Sunday, 691 passengers and crew were found positive.
Mr. Kato said that outside of the ship, 132 people in Japan have the novel coronavirus.
A day earlier, Mr. Kato apologized after disclosing that 23 passengers who were allowed to disembark hadn’t been properly tested. He said they would now get tested.
Kentaro Iwata, an infectious-disease specialist who has criticized what he called the lack of proper quarantine procedures on the ship, said it would take time until passengers could rest assured that they were virus-free.
“Nobody, not even a machine, can tell if you have the infection. You just have to assume that the person is infected,” said Dr. Iwata.
He and other specialists have raised concerns about secondary transmission on board after a general 14-day quarantine was imposed on Feb. 5 by Japanese authorities. Even though passengers were confined to their quarters, the crew continued to work, delivering meals and packages to rooms. Many passengers were allowed to take limited strolls in groups on the ship’s upper decks.
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Cruise operator Princess Cruises said the last passenger, a Japanese national, was let off the ship Sunday. Most passengers have returned to their home countries. Some who tested positive remain in hospitals in Japan, and some who tested negative but had virus-positive roommates were brought to a Japanese government facility to sit out an additional two-week quarantine.
Arnold Hopland, an American passenger, was among 89 passengers moved to the outskirts of Tokyo Saturday. Dr. Hopland, a family doctor from Elizabethton, Tenn., tested negative but his wife, Regina, tested positive and remains in a Tokyo hospital.
“It was a matter of minor inconvenience,” said Dr. Hopland, calling his additional quarantine a sacrifice he was willing to make to make sure he didn’t infect others.
Mr. Kato, the health minister, said crew members would be permitted to disembark soon along the same lines as the passengers. Many come from the Philippines, India and Indonesia, and those countries are preparing to send chartered planes to repatriate their citizens.
Mr. Kato said testing of the crew was largely complete. Those with negative results will be permitted to leave the ship, while those with positive results will be admitted to hospitals.
Write to Suryatapa Bhattacharya at Suryatapa.Bhattacharya@wsj.com and Peter Landers at peter.landers@wsj.com
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