Diamond Princess passenger "tested positive for Wuhan coronavirus"

[ceilidh1]

6 minutes ago, Pushka said:

I imagine they are just finding accommodation in Tokyo and sorting out flights home. They may not be aware of the restrictions? Seems crazy to me. 

Wow - that would be terrible. Thinking you are heading home only to find out you're not allowed in? Yikes.I wonder if there is any "choice" in this - by that, I mean, do you HAVE to get off the ship if negative? (Not that I think  many would want to remain, but that option might be better than being stranded in Japan with no means out for 14 days)

[JennAngel9]

4 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Hmmm...maybe. I know she is off the ship. She posted live video on Twitter.

I'm looking at her twitter feed now.  Seems like (once again) an extremely questionable choice by Princess (or Japan) to call so many people at the same time to figure out customs paperwork.  I'm thinking these are the same groups that Matthew Smith says were called by tag number and filmed disembarking.  I guess we'll find out soon enough if they are just going to blending back into society in Japan.

[ceilidh1]

39 minutes ago, BRANDEE said:

 

So there are currently infected passengers still on the Diamond at the same time as other passengers are being "let go" to go home in Japan or to travel around Japan.  Wow..  I read that their new "focus has shift from border control to preventing the spread in local communities".   Doesn't letting passengers not do an additional 14 day  quarantine counter this new focus? No other country is just allowing passengers to immediately return home to everyday life.  I understand that they probably have no place to put them, but dropping them at a train station???  So just let the chips fall where they may!  Pretty scary!!

This was reported on Global News in Canada:

 

The ship’s operator, Princess Cruises, said in a statement Tuesday that 169 people who tested positive recently were still on the ship as they waited for transportation to hospitals.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6567100/canadians-evacuated-diamond-princess/

[BRANDEE]

18 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

This was reported on Global News in Canada:

 

The ship’s operator, Princess Cruises, said in a statement Tuesday that 169 people who tested positive recently were still on the ship as they waited for transportation to hospitals.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6567100/canadians-evacuated-diamond-princess/

 

Davis Abel just posted a youtube regarding his being tested positive yesterday and still waiting to be sent to hostel (no hospital room) from the ship.  While he was talking, over the loudspeaker, you can hear passengers being called by luggage ticket color to disembark. They are getting bused to train station so they can go home.  If they are Japanese I guess a train to home.  Non residents have to find hotels until they can go home.  For the Americans who did not go home two days ago..they have to wait 14 days from today to be allowed on a plane back to the US.  Same for some other countries too.  So is the new approach to a virus like corona the same as noro on a ship.  Let every go home asap and the virus will weaken when everyone spreads and not confined to "close quarters" on a ship? 

Edited February 19, 2020 by BRANDEE

[dog]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

Where are the passengers who are disembarking now going? I don't believe any other countries actually have planes on the ground yet, do they? So, assuming that people for Australia, Canada, UK, Hong Kong (and maybe other countries) can't return home on their own for 14 days...where are they going? Wouldn't they have just stayed on the ship until their countries came to get them? I'm thinking, in particular, of Yardley Wong. She is off the ship with hubby and son - they are meant to be going home to quarantine in Hong Kong. Anyone know or have heard the process for this?

Canadian plane is there in Japan but on late news tonight CTV said not leaving Thursday delayed until Friday Canadians told to stay on ship if taking Gov’t plane

Edited February 19, 2020 by dog

[Maverick61]

3 hours ago, K.T.B. said:

 

How do I know when they started contacting other countries?  It's been in the news recently.  It's when they finally allowed them to start removing passengers.  Otherwise, it was on Japan.

 

 

 

WRONG.   Look at the dates on these contacts with the WHO and CDC.  Way before they allowed anyone to start to remove passengers.  And likely before these communications were formally released

 

"We are in constant contact with the Japanese government, the International Maritime Organization, and the owner of the ship to protect the health of all passengers."

https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-ebola-and-covid-19-outbreaks

 

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided recommendations relating to the quarantine of passengers and crew onboard the Diamond Princess..."

https://japan2.usembassy.gov/pdfs/alert-cdc-letter-for-diamond-princess.pdf

[dog]

Wonder if a proof of negative test is checked before disembarking ship?  On the Twitter feeds I thought one posted a certificate for disembarkation. Can anyone clarify?  If so, who slipped up in letting the Goldman’s and Mark without any proof they tested negative?

[caribill]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

Where are the passengers who are disembarking now going? I don't believe any other countries actually have planes on the ground yet, do they? So, assuming that people for Australia, Canada, UK, Hong Kong (and maybe other countries) can't return home on their own for 14 days...where are they going? Wouldn't they have just stayed on the ship until their countries came to get them? I'm thinking, in particular, of Yardley Wong. She is off the ship with hubby and son - they are meant to be going home to quarantine in Hong Kong. Anyone know or have heard the process for this?

 

Many of the passengers on this cruise are from Japan. So I suspect many of those disembarking after negative testing are returning to their homes in Japan. Dropping them off at a train station allows them to find transportation home.

 

Effectively they have been in quarantine in their home country and are leaving the ship after negative testing at the end of the two week quarantine.

 

The US citizens who flew back to the USA two days ago were definitely exposed to positive carriers on the buses to the airport and then on the planes. They definitely need to be quarantined in the USA.

[icat2000]

Australians are the one leaving the ship at moment. They just had it on the news. It’s the Australian Government evacuation flight for them. The Australians are taking New Zealand passengers as well. I believe there is 15 people who chose not to go mainly because they had relatives in hospitals in Japan and wanted to be with them.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8018995/Qantas-takes-extreme-measures-protect-staff-coronavirus.html

Edited February 19, 2020 by icat2000

[Andrisk123]

For what it's worth, when France together with some other EU countries repatriated their citizens from Wuhan, most countries chose to quarantine their citizens upon return. Sweden did not - they brought them home and kindly asked them to self-quarantine and check their health and contact health services if feeling ill.

 

While I personally think this is not the right way to go, as far as I know there have been no new cases in Sweden. Could of course be that none of them were infected and thus did not spread anything further on (and I believe it was only something like 10-15 people in total), but could also be that the virus isn't as horrible as first thought, and that it does not spread as easily in "normal" environments.

 

And it could also be that quite a lot of people have recovered from the virus not even knowing they had it - I don't know anyone with good health who would visit the doctor for a common cold (which is good, since that would be a waste of medical resources) instead of just sitting home and waiting for it to pass, so could be that there are a large amount of cases that aren't reported since if there are no real complications, there really isn't a reason to go to the doctor. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Pushka said:

I imagine they are just finding accommodation in Tokyo and sorting out flights home. They may not be aware of the restrictions? Seems crazy to me. 

From official Princess releases I understand the Princess have a number of people in Japan to help organize accommodation and flights for those leaving the ship.

[fragilek]

 I have just read a tweet from @shannonvo who is leaving the ship (if results are negative ) -She lives in Japan. Today for the first time she mentions further 14 quarantine. She has never mentioned this before, up until now just talk of leaving to go home until yesterday when she mentioned may be more complicated and then this today. From all her tweets she seems lovely and is with her husband and son- 

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by fragilek

[fragilek]

also 79 new cases on board in today's results out of sample set of 607. 68 asymptomatic 

[dog]

Just now, fragilek said:

also 79 new cases on board in today's results out of sample set of 607. 68 asymptomatic 

And CNN. New positive case from passenger on US flight in California 

[kathy49]

9 hours ago, bluesea321 said:

 

Every country that is repatriating citizens are quarantining them for 14 days in a proper facility but somehow Japan will let passengers from the ship roam freely through their own country thus raising the possibility or likelihood or further infections on land. Seems incredible to me. Oh well. 

One after another decision seems bad...what are they thinking after all of this?

[kathy49]

7 hours ago, dog said:

Thanks for sharing link. Most up to date---you can hear them calling those with negative results to disembark.

He seems okay and has clarified that he and Sally tested positive, still waiting to be transferred to a hostel until a hospital bed is available.

So sad.

 

from twitter:

Matthew Smith, on the otherhand, as of 3 hours ago, has not got his test results back yet.

Yardley Wong & quarantinedondiamondprincess have disembarked just now.

David mentions confusion yesterday...first positive then due to language not positive and then finally getting an English interpreter positive..waiting in cabin 8 hours for transfer to hostel none came..went to sleep ?.. doubt much of that really and still waiting today. No excuse for all of this and no beds in hospital...nice feeling for all these older passengers with medical issues beyond the virus. Meanwhile they sit and listen to disembarkation announcements. Leaves me wondering governments should have been right there for their citizens...British are still not there .

 

[kathy49]

6 hours ago, BRANDEE said:

 

Davis Abel just posted a youtube regarding his being tested positive yesterday and still waiting to be sent to hostel (no hospital room) from the ship.  While he was talking, over the loudspeaker, you can hear passengers being called by luggage ticket color to disembark. They are getting bused to train station so they can go home.  If they are Japanese I guess a train to home.  Non residents have to find hotels until they can go home.  For the Americans who did not go home two days ago..they have to wait 14 days from today to be allowed on a plane back to the US.  Same for some other countries too.  So is the new approach to a virus like corona the same as noro on a ship.  Let every go home asap and the virus will weaken when everyone spreads and not confined to "close quarters" on a ship? 

Put them on trains?

[fragilek]

https://twitter.com/qtiepie

 

They had there luggage ready to put out and were set to transfer when daughter came back +ve so sad for them. Strange it seems they were still willing to let some of the family leave if they had wanted

[Earthworm Jim]

9 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

You mentioned Australia. When the earlier two flights of people evacuated from Wuhan brought Australians back to the country, they did not enter commercial airports. Firstly, the plane was an older one that I believe was no longer in service. It was fitted with much improved air filtration equipment and a system that brought much more outside air into the plane. The second flight went to Darwin airport where the passengers disembarked in the military part of the airfield and were then transported by bus to a former mining camp at Howard. This facility can accommodate (from memory) 3,500 people. It has separate accommodation units (rather utilitarian, not of hotel standard), and facilities such as a swimming pool.

 

The people on the first Wuhan evacuation flight were taken to Learmonth RAAF base, then on smaller planes to Christmas Island. These people have completed their 14 days of quarantine with no reports of positive tests. Yesterday they were flown to Western Australia from where QANTAS flew them free of charge to their closest home airport.

 

That part was in response to BSocial wondering whether an American just off the Diamond could theoretically fly to Australia on a commercial flight. Not the evacuation flights.

[fragilek]

 

[LizNeedsAVacation]

18 minutes ago, fragilek said:

https://twitter.com/qtiepie

 

They had there luggage ready to put out and were set to transfer when daughter came back +ve so sad for them. Strange it seems they were still willing to let some of the family leave if they had wanted

I assume at this point some countries just really want to get their citizens back and if they are going into quarantine and are currently negative they don’t want to leave them behind.

[LizNeedsAVacation]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Many of the passengers on this cruise are from Japan. So I suspect many of those disembarking after negative testing are returning to their homes in Japan. Dropping them off at a train station allows them to find transportation home.

 

Effectively they have been in quarantine in their home country and are leaving the ship after negative testing at the end of the two week quarantine.

 

The US citizens who flew back to the USA two days ago were definitely exposed to positive carriers on the buses to the airport and then on the planes. They definitely need to be quarantined in the USA.

Yardley had responded to a comment that the HK passengers were being taken to a hotel until the plane but she didn’t elaborate. She was very nervous about the protests in HK. I can’t imagine finally getting off, accepting that you need more quarantine and then seeing videos of violent (from what I see) protests outside the place you are going to be housed.

Edited February 19, 2020 by LizNeedsAVacation
Fixed autocorrct

[bluesea321]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

Many of the passengers on this cruise are from Japan. So I suspect many of those disembarking after negative testing are returning to their homes in Japan. Dropping them off at a train station allows them to find transportation home.

 

Bad decision, seems to me and to others like Japan's Parliament:

 

During a Lower House Budget Committee meeting Wednesday, opposition party members criticized the health ministry for lifting the quarantine even as cases of infection continue to be reported aboard the ship almost every day.

Kazunori Yamanoi, an opposition party member, questioned whether passengers should be allowed to return home, go shopping and go about with their lives. "If any of those 500 individuals are infected, we won’t be able to contain it,” he told health minister Katsunobu Kato during the meeting. “They should, at the very least, be isolated for two weeks just to be sure.”

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/19/national/diamond-princess-covid19-quarantine/#.Xk0yCBNKjPA

[tailspintom]

9 hours ago, matadams4u said:

Actually, the Chinese agreed to allow the US participate as a part of the WHO.  I am not certain of the current status of US membership in the WHO - 2-3 years back the US was downgraded from a voting member to an observing member due to the failure to pay dues.  This may have been rectified.  Under the rules, if you don’t pay your dues you just don’t have the same access as others.  Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons (there are more than one) the US has had a habit over a long period of time of jeopardizing it’s ability to participate in international working groups for one reason or another.  Under international protocols - WHO is the point group, those that aren’t in compliance with WHO rules just don’t get to participate.  This provides some background on the reason there might be some friction and this is just one area of many.  It is the right of the US to not meet its obligations with international agencies, but there shouldn’t be any complaint when excluded from the party.

Here is a link that addresses the US contributions to WHO.  The US continues to be the largest assessed contributor to WHO at 22%. The US has never failed to pay their "dues" since the inception of WHO in 1948. The US contributes some 17% of WHO's total budget.  it remains  a member of the executive board, representing the Americas. https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-the-world-health-organization/

 

As someone else commented, I share the opinion that China's reluctance to have other nations involved in their outbreak is a perceived need to control the narrative and information flow within their country.

[zonacruiser25]

The only thing that seems to be certain is that confusion reigns supreme.  Diamond Princess will be a case study for infectious disease for years to come.  As passengers disburse back to their homes, I hope that authorities track and share REAL data about infections.   Containment has been poor at best and the extent of cross contamination needs to be seriously evaluated to help all cruise lines to help to deal with situations like this in the future.

 

The best comparison to my untrained eye would be how ships currently deal with Noro.  Policies and procedures tend to help control and knock down these outbreaks.  Ships return to port when there is a high percentage of passengers that have been sickened.  Ships are disinfected and successfully continue to operate safely. 

 

Diamond and Westerdam are the most visible case studies to help figure this out.  Passengers are still living through this learning experience.  Families are scared and concerned.  Princess and governments are all trying to deal with this and will get everyone home.  The how and when are frustrating.  We all want answers now but this thread is a prime example of how confusion spreads quickly.  I pray for wisdom to those that are making decisions that are affecting can resolve this as soon as possible.

 

I look forward to reading reviews soon that will once again only deal with bad food and chair hogs!