It has been a long time since the passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship were last allowed to set foot on land.
They have been under government-imposed 14-day quarantine at the port of Yokohama since their two-week cruise was due to end on February 4. It was then that Japanese Ministry of Health officials boarded and discovered that 10 people were sick with the new COVID-19 coronavirus.
Since then, at least 218 passengers and crew of the ship, on board of which there were originally more than 3, 700 people, have been diagnosed with the virus. They are brought ashore for medical care. This is by far the largest number of COVID-19 infections outside mainland China.
Quarantine will end soon
Things on the ship have changed significantly. Passengers make their own beds, clean their toilets themselves, receive food only in the room from the crew members in gloves and masks, and count down the days until February 19, when their quarantine should end.
The jump in positive diagnoses raised questions about the decision of the Japanese government to leave everyone on board after it turned out that the previous passenger received a positive test result in Hong Kong at the end of last month.
Slow pace of testing
The slow pace of testing was criticized, although officials said they hoped to increase the number of daily tests from 300 to 1000.
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But Jenny Wilson, a professor of medical epidemiology (University of West London), said that the lives of passengers in their rooms are not much different from moving on land. “The more people move, the more they have contacts with other people outside permanent groups and the greater the opportunity for the virus to spread to new contacts, ” she said.
Wilson added: most likely people were infected before the passengers were placed in the isolation ward and the first 10 cases were diagnosed: “These 10 people roamed the ship for a week before quarantine began. This means that other passengers were exposed to the virus during this time, therefore, it is believed that new cases will appear at least 14 days after the start of quarantine. ”
“The hardest part is the uncertainty of what will happen and the attempt to stay busy, ” said Kent Fraser, an American aboard a cruise ship. “Boredom is a real torture and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get rid of it, but so far everything is going well.”
How was the holiday?
On Valentine's Day, passengers were presented with roses, chocolate and kindly new iPhones kindly provided by the Ministry of Health of Japan on board the ship with a special application for medical support. According to crew members, more than 2, 000 additional prescription drugs were delivered on board.
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Friday evening dinner consisted of Valentine shrimp, coconut dishes and potato pie.
But not everyone was allowed to go on deck. One mother, who was on board enjoying the fresh air on the deck, said she couldn’t go out again until Sunday because there was a schedule for the outdoors for thousands of passengers on board.
Princess Cruises executives said the ship’s ventilation system, which typically releases a mixture of fresh and recycled air, has been redesigned to allow more fresh air to circulate than usual. Most public health experts agree that coronavirus is usually transmitted from person to person through coughing and sneezing, and epidemiologists do not believe that it can infect people in different parts of the ship.
For several days, passengers were offered face masks that they had to wear on the street. But for the holiday they were gifted with masks of a different kind.
In connection with the event, 11 healthy passengers were released from the ship in accordance with the new protocol developed by the Ministry of Health of Japan, in which priority is given to the oldest, most vulnerable passengers over 80 years old. These passengers will still need to end their quarantine at government offices on land.
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Chocolate, fish and other hearty foods, small portions of which satisfy hunger
But perhaps the most significant gift for Valentine's Day that the guests received is a full refund for this cruise, which now stretches into a monthly quarantine saga, which should end soon.
“The end is already visible, ” one of the ship’s crew announced Friday night. “Five days to go.”
Passengers tried to reduce the severity of their test
Some passengers, whose luxury cruise ship turned into a giant quarantine station, tried to take the burden of their test.
They posted photos of their dinners, solved Sudoku puzzles, and played hopscotch on short and limited forays onto the deck. They shared encouraging messages from tired crew members who fed and entertained them throughout the quarantine, which the Japanese authorities insisted would end next Wednesday.
Outside, the orchestra, hula dancers and hydrocyclists represented a pleasant contrast with health officials in protective suits and rows of ambulances waiting to take infected passengers to the hospital.
Passengers dream of pizza
Fraser was among those who spent Valentine's Day alone after his wife, Rebecca, tested positive and was placed in isolation in a hospital. But he makes further plans for the period when their test is over: “If we have to stay here for a few days, then maybe we will go to Tokyo Disneyland. As soon as we get home, good pizza will be at the very top of the list! ”
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Messages to relatives
On Friday, some passengers were able to send messages to relatives via iPhones - a gift from the Japanese government. There were also expressions of love for the crew, which were met by carved paper hearts attached to the cabin door. “Thank you for all your hard work, ” read a message on one of them. And again: “Thank you for taking care of us.”
American Passenger Review of Valentine's Day Food
A Diamond Princess passenger who tweeted about food on board a quarantined ship due to a deadly outbreak of coronavirus is back in business, this time on Valentine's Day.
American passenger Matthew Smith, who surprisingly maintained his positive attitude, was stuck for 10 days on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan, published photos of Valentine's Day gifts received by passengers from the Carnival Japan line.
“The treats for Valentine's Day are dark chocolate that I like, but my wife doesn't. In this way, we could be in accordance with Japanese practice — women give men chocolate this day, ”Smith wrote. “And how did the Japanese do it!”
The photographs show something similar to two packets of 70 percent cocoa - dark chocolate. We also see a red rose among a couple of other goodies.
