Diamond Princess passenger "tested positive for Wuhan coronavirus"

[azbirdmom]

Just saw on our news that a crew member - Binay Kumar Sarkar - is pleading with India for help on Facebook.  It breaks my heart to see what those on board are going through.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Peachypooh said:

I really feel for the passengers on this ship and hope the best for them. At some

point everyone will be able to disembark and their ordeal will be over.

If I were Princess I would be seriously thinking of  letting the ship just sit for a month(twice

the incubation period) after it was thoroughly decontaminated.

 

 

 

I think they've canceled a couple (if not more) cruises after the quarantine period is to end.  They will probably thoroughly disinfect anything they can and properly discard anything that is questionable.  It sounds as though new mattresses and draperies, maybe even carpet and soft furniture will be in order.  Who knows?  Seeing that the virus is known to be able to live on surfaces for up to 28 days, it's probably best to take it out of service for at least that long.   I'm sure after this ordeal, they will do the right thing with much input from the WHO and the CDC.  

[deseraec]

I'm just hoping that everything will be okay in time for our cruise in July! I'm getting nervous!

[kathy49]

2 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Why is Davids AC suddenly a problem? Have been on long cruises and never had this problem. I hope they are not getting the virus. I always set the AC atbthe coldest setting at night, otherwise it was too hot. Something else is going on. 

If it were bothering me that much I would keep calling until I got some duct tape...they have an extra sheet and secure it to cover that massive a/c vent area above the bed. I think he is worried about the cough (they both have it) but trying to deflect any comments to the effect that he has something...they are monitoring their temps and I am sure would report if it is high.  They were going to try to get a good night's sleep and hopefully they will be better today.

[Outerdog]

38 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

But we do know one single carrier is responsible for the entire outbreak on the ship.

 

We do not know that.

[dearinger]

We are cruising on the Diamond the beginning of May and haven't heard anything yet about cancellations.  Did I read that other cruise lines are cancelling their voyages this far out already? We already plan to be in Japan before our trip, so it isn't a huge deal if our cruise is cancelled. We will just end up spending more time exploring the country. We aren't in the age range where the virus is a huge concern for us. 

[voljeep]

too early ? - but what plans are Princess / US Government making for the disembarking AMERICAN passengers on the 19th that want to come to the United States 

 

Chartered bus(es) to airport , chartered planes back to a place where medical testing will be done again ?

 

just wondering about the logistics after a 2 week delay

 

AND from the Princess website, the Diamond's next scheduled voyage is 3/15 ...

[maryann2]

1 minute ago, oskidunker said:

Why is Davids AC suddenly a problem? Have been on long cruises and never had this problem. I hope they are not getting the virus. I always set the AC atbthe coldest setting at night, otherwise it was too hot. Something else is going on. 

I agree. It sounds like they are both getting sick. So so sad.

[DCGuy64]

Our reservation with the Diamond Princess is more than a year away (April 2021), yet we're already a little concerned about a virus of this magnitude affecting the ship. I am going to assume that Princess will scrub every inch of that ship once the virus threat has abated, but it certainly is worrying, especially for passengers booked in the coming weeks and months.

[kathy49]

50 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

From a purely scientific perspective we are learning a lot about just how contagious this virus is. We will never know who transmitted the virus to who else on the ship. But we do know one single carrier is responsible for the entire outbreak on the ship. It is apparent that the virus is very contagious in confined settings. There was an outbreak in the original hospital in Wuhan where 40% of the cases were contracted in that hospital. The concerning thing about that outbreak was that people from different locations throughout the hospital contracted the disease. It was not confined to the area where the sick were being held. This virus is concerning in its ability to spread easily. 

"one single carrier" you must be privy to some exceptional scientific information....that is simply not true....even the experts just don't know.

[voljeep]

I'd be concerned if I was on the next scheduled voyage of 3/15 ...

[ed01106]

8 minutes ago, voljeep said:

too early ? - but what plans are Princess / US Government making for the disembarking AMERICAN passengers on the 19th that want to come to the United States 

 

Chartered bus(es) to airport , chartered planes back to a place where medical testing will be done again ?

 

just wondering about the logistics after a 2 week delay

 

AND from the Princess website, the Diamond's next scheduled voyage is 3/15 ...

Probably.  Although the details are probably far from finalized.

[Kmkub]

My heart goes out to all the people on the Diamond Princess. Special empathy for those in interior rooms. I can't even imagine. 

 

I can't predict how I'd feel right now if it were me, but for those who suggest moving them to a land based quarantine facility, if I had a choice, my best guess is I'd opt to stay on the ship over going to some sort of FEMA style quarantine camp.

 

 

 

 

[chipmaster]

2 hours ago, Peachypooh said:

I really feel for the passengers on this ship and hope the best for them. At some

point everyone will be able to disembark and their ordeal will be over.

If I were Princess I would be seriously thinking of  letting the ship just sit for a month(twice

the incubation period) after it was thoroughly decontaminated.

 

 

The incubation guess of 14 days isn't for the virus out of the human body, a good wipe down and a few hours is all that is needed, if you needed a month perhaps all of China and the Far East should be avoided, LOL

[Jetstreamer]

19 minutes ago, dearinger said:

We are cruising on the Diamond the beginning of May and haven't heard anything yet about cancellations.  Did I read that other cruise lines are cancelling their voyages this far out already? We already plan to be in Japan before our trip, so it isn't a huge deal if our cruise is cancelled. We will just end up spending more time exploring the country. We aren't in the age range where the virus is a huge concern for us. 

 

Same here.  We're booked on the Diamond on 16th May but have flights booked and will fly regardless of whether the cruise is cancelled or not.  Main issue right now is that we can't really make plans with any confidence.  For the ports, we've decided to stick to Princess excursions or explore independently without a tour.  That is less messy should everything go south.  If the cruise is cancelled we'll probably just get the Japan rail pass and take it from there.  Will be very sad though as we really like our cruise itinerary.

 

My thought is that Princess will want to keep Diamond sailing from Japan.  The ship is based there year round which makes it different than other lines who have cancelled plans to position their ships in from other regions e.g. NCL.  Patronage is majority Japanese and itineraries are mostly contained within Japan (with stops in Busan).  I sense a lot will depend on the Japanese authorities and whether they allow future sailings to go ahead.

 

I imagine a decision will only be made when the quarantine is over.  In the meantime we'll check out where else we can visit in Japan just in case!

[chipmaster]

135 and counting, looks like the Princess is following the Wuhan trend!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/business/coronavirus-japan-cruise-ship.html

 

Having 3K people confined with no escape from the bug is giving the bug lots of carriers to transfer to. Wonder if anyone is considering spreading them out.  We already know from Wuhan that confining a lot of people together is a recipe for lots of people getting it!

 

I feel for those on the ship, would you be comfortable that the people that feed you, bring you supplies live, sleep and eat and bath and pee/poop in group conditions deep below deck likely without any of the precautions that they put out in public, doesn't sound like a good place for prevent bug transfer!

Edited February 10, 2020 by chipmaster

[Noxequifans]

Japan is quite strict regarding disease as it is a densely populated in the larger cities. It will take quite a bit of cleaning and inspections to get the OK from the government to cruise from there again.

[dearinger]

We've been to Japan several times before and life will go on if the cruise is cancelled. We were using this as an opportunity to explore parts of the country that isn't as easily accessible by train. @Jetstreamer The JapanRail Pass is an amazing deal if you use it enough. You can always use Google Maps ahead of time to tell you how much a trip would be paying out of pocket. If you move enough around the country the cost is well worth it. 

 

But.. I imagine that by the time the first group of passengers get back on that ship, it will be the cleanest ship in all of Princess' fleet. 🙂

[Psoque]

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I haven't been following this thread as closely.  I have one question that has never been made clear in news reports that I have read.  This is in regard to this "80 yo male passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong" who ended up testing positive for the virus.  I thought this was a round-trip Yokohama cruise.  Did this passenger disembark because he was feeling ill?  Or was this a planned "half cruise" for him and his travel companions?

 

Also, how many people disembark/embark in Hong Kong?  There is very little information about that in the news also.  I am just wondering if this "80 yo male passenger" was not the only person who (unintentionally, of course) brought the virus to the ship.  I just can't imagine how one passenger can infect this many people, especially when the estimated R0 of this 2019-nCoV is much lower than that of the measles virus.  I guess it is also possible that not all of the passengers who already tested positive received the virus from "patient zero" directly.

 

As a physician and a scientist with family members in Japan, I am very curious about this.

 

However, I feel very bad for those who are stuck on Diamond Princess, and I also wish those who are sick from the virus a quick an uneventful recovery.

[dobiemom]

I ALWAYS have sinus/respiratory problems with dry air/AC on cruise ships (and hotels). I now have a travel vaporizer that goes with me. Seems to help. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by dobiemom

[kent9xxx1]

1 hour ago, ed01106 said:

A land based quarantine would expose  thousands of additional people.  Starting with the bus drivers needed to transport all these people.  Then the people who need to clean the buses.  Also are you gonna to have the cruise kitchen staff prepare the meals or bring in new people?  Also you will need security to prevent people from leaving.  The ship comes with it’s own moat to prevent this right now.  Logistically for Japan the best place is the boat.

Did thousands of additional people get infected on land when handling all their land based cases? 
You think the bus driver receive french kiss from the passengers in lieu of fare?  Even so, this is hyperbole at best.  Thousands?  Lol. 

[Outerdog]

2 minutes ago, kent9xxx1 said:

You think the bus driver receive french kiss from the passengers in lieu of fare?  Even so, this is hyperbole at best.

 

Hyperbole begets hyperbole.

 

Nice.

[kent9xxx1]

Logically, Japan should quarantine all of their citizen on land at the very least.  

[kent9xxx1]

1 minute ago, Outerdog said:

 

Hyperbole begets hyperbole.

 

Nice.

Did I believe that statement?  The previous poster seemed to believe it will expose thousands.  Yeah, right.  
 

 

[rich_cathybrock]

1 hour ago, oskidunker said:

Why is Davids AC suddenly a problem? Have been on long cruises and never had this problem. I hope they are not getting the virus. I always set the AC atbthe coldest setting at night, otherwise it was too hot. Something else is going on. 

Watched David's last 2 videos and the cough appears related to the aircon in the stateroom.  He and his "princess" say the cough passes immediately when they step out onto the balcony.  Begs the question - how are those poor folks managing in inside cabins?  I would have been taken off in a straightjacket myself. 

 

It is amazing what people can endure.  My prayers go out to them all that they can actually get out on the 19th - anyone know if this date is still unchanged as yet?