Two elderly former passengers from the coronavirus-wracked Diamond Princess died Thursday, Japanese authorities said, as fears mount for those who have left the ship after testing negative for the virus.
The man and woman, both Japanese and in their 80s, were taken off the cruise ship last week and died in hospital, the first fatalities among the more than 600 passengers and crew who have tested positive for the virus.
The huge vessel moored in Yokohama near Tokyo is easily the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 621 positive cases confirmed among the passengers and crew.
On Wednesday, 443 passengers disembarked after testing negative for the COVID-19 virus and not showing symptoms during a 14-day quarantine period. The removal of all passengers was expected to take at least three days.
But questions are increasingly being asked as to why former Diamond Princess passengers are able to roam freely around Japan’s famously crowded cities, even if they have tested negative.
Quarantine ‘improved’
The Diamond Princess was quarantined on February 5 when a passenger who left in Hong Kong was found infected with the virus.
Passengers were confined to cabins except for brief trips on deck wearing masks and gloves, when they were told to keep their distance from others.
“The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control,” said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted, saying “there is no need to discuss this further”.
The videos had been viewed more than a million times in Japanese and hundreds of thousands of times in English.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Iwata said he had heard from a colleague on board that quarantine procedures had improved.
However, he recommended that all those disembarking the ship should be monitored for at least 14 days and should avoid contact with others.
Japanese authorities have defended their procedures, stressing that risky and safe areas were strictly divided and there was a station installed for safely removing contaminated gear.
The government also released a document from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), which pointed to “clear evidence that substantial transmission of COVID-19 had been occurring prior to implementation of quarantine on Diamond Princess.”
The 1,045 crew members on board are expected to endure a further 14-day quarantine after the last passenger has disembarked.
Several countries have evacuated their citizens from the ship and insisted they undergo a further 14-day quarantine when they arrive on home soil.
Outside the Diamond Princess, Japan has seen 84 cases.
AFP.
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