In the latest from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, the number of infections rises and the crew is set to undergo further quarantine.
Diamond Princess Coronavirus Latest
Princess Cruises has been providing updates of the Quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan and it isn’t getting any better. The number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus which is also known as COVID-19 is now at 285 including passengers and crew members.
The Situation for Passengers
The U.S. Department of State has been working with the Japanese authorities in providing charter flights to evacuate U.S. citizens from the vessel who have negative results for the virus. Princess Cruises has also revealed plans from the Japanese Ministry of Health as the quarantine end date nears. Here is the very latest updated from Princess Cruises President Jan Swartz:
Any guests or crew who have been confirmed to have the virus are being evacuated off the vessel to medical facilities in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Health is planning on implementing a new testing process starting on February 18 but it will take three days to get the results back and not everyone can be tested at once.
This means the first guests won’t be able to disembark until February 21. The cruise line will be supporting guests with their journey home once negative results come back. Those who test positive might need to be transferred to a medical facility in Japan which is already being done.
Guests who have been in close contact with those who have tested positive may also need to restart their 14-day quarantine.
The Situation for the Crew
For the hard-working crew members who have been keeping guests happy and delivering meals to the cabins each day things don’t look so good looking ahead. Once all passengers have finally disembarked the Diamond Princess it is possible that a full further quarantine for the crew is needed lasting for another 14 days.
Also Read: Passenger Who Disembarked Holland America Cruise Ship Confirmed With COVID-19
Once all this is over Princess Cruises will be giving the crew a two-month paid vacation and will fully be supporting them to say thank you for all their effort during this difficult and unique situation.
Further updates will be released from the cruise line as it receives more information from the Japanese Ministry of Health. So far more than 69,000 people around the world have been infected and the death toll starts at more than 1,600.
