Diamond Princess passenger "tested positive for Wuhan coronavirus"

[ed01106]

36 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

I like the idea, but is it feasible?

 

That gets you almost one day of food. They'd need more than 150K for the two week period. I have no idea how much of that the military has on hand, if it's available to sell to Princess, nor how complicated it would be to get the PAX a list of offerings and have everyone send it in, get it compiled, prepped for distro, etc.

 

The entire thing is a logistical nightmare. Hopefully some best practices can be developed after this is over. Lots of lessons being learned.  Mistakes get made when you venture into the unknown.

The USA keeps about 2 million humanitarian MREs on hand that doesn’t include the total of MREs intended for soldiers.

 

And the food would not need to be limited to MREs.  The average grocery store has a ton of food that require little or no preparation.  What is easier for the staff and safer for the passengers?   a) staff prepares a tuna sandwich b) staff deliver a can of tuna andy  bread that is still sealed in a plastic bag?

[Kmkub]

3 minutes ago, Fido Chuckwagon said:

I mean, they’re not off the coast of some third world country, they’re off the coast of Japan.  I am quite confident that it isn’t that hard to hire a vendor or vendors that can prepare 10k meals per day relatively quickly.  It might be expensive, but given the situation, that shouldn’t be what is determinative here.  

 

You really think there are catering services standing fully staffed, menus planned, distro process planned and fresh food ready to prepare 10K meals a day, just in case? LOL

 

I never said it couldn't be done. I said it couldn't be done day 1. Are they working on it? I have no idea. Should they be? I have no idea. 

 

I was just pointing out the obvious that there's no place in the world that could come up with 3,700 meals in an hour or two and then repeat the process every 5-7 hours for days on end, without having planned and planned ahead of time. These things take planning.  A cruise ship can do this because they have a buttoned up process that has been developed and refined over decades.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Globehoppers]

The images of the people on diamond "let out" on deck for an hour under the direction of not getting closer than 2 meters showed several standing next to each other...  Even with their health at stake many appear to not be much concerned over contaminating each other against the orders of health officials.

[Fido Chuckwagon]

1 hour ago, SnowCrocus said:

Do you have a reference for your statement "those the flu shots for this year really missed the mark"?  This is not my understanding of the relationship between the 2019-2020 vaccine and the 2019-2020 flu observed in the US thus far this flu season.  The four strains in this year's flu shot are

• The A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine component (updated from an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus to an A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus)
• The A(H3N2) vaccine component (updated from an A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016 A(H3N2)-like virus to an A/Kansas/14/2017 (H3N2)-like virus)
• Both B/Victoria and B/Yamagata virus components (the ones from the 2018-2019 remain the same for the 2019-2020 flu vaccine)

For the US 2019-2020 flu season, we are seeing have been about 60% B, 40% A this year, a higher portion of B than in the recent past. The B strains we have seen have been more than 95%  B/Victoria. (Some people who had the flu shot have still caught B/Victoria; the shot is not 100% effective.)  The A strain being seen most (mostly in adults and seniors) has been the A(H1N1)pdm09

 

My information comes from the CDC:

What is in the vaccine: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

What is being observed: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

People need to understand that the primary purpose of the flu shot isn’t to prevent you from getting the flu necessarily, it is to prevent bad outcomes like hospitalization or death if you get the flu.  Having the flu shot in advance can significantly reduce the severity of a flu infection.  My whole family gets the flu shot every year but last week my four year old daughter still got Influenza-B.  That said, she had a mild case of it, never had a fever that exceeded 101, and was only sick for four days.  That is likely due to the fact that she got the shot.

[Fido Chuckwagon]

14 minutes ago, zonacruiser25 said:

I guess since Tokyo is gearing up for the Olympics this year they could have some resources that could be "tested" to make this happen

I guess I have some experience in this because decades ago I worked in the food service industry, but it’s really just not that monumental a task to hire a few restaurants to prepare 10k meals a day.  

[ed01106]

8 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

 

You really think there are catering services standing fully staffed, menus planned, distro process planned and fresh food ready to prepare 10K meals a day, just in case? LOL

 

I never said it couldn't be done. I said it couldn't be done day 1. Are they working on it? I have no idea. Should they be? I have no idea. 

 

I was just pointing out the obvious that there's no place in the world that could come up with 3,700 meals in an hour or two and then repeat the process every 5-7 hours for days on end, without having planned and planned ahead of time. These things take planning.  A cruise ship can do this because they have a buttoned up process that has been developed and refined over decades.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I doubt there is a single catering service in the area that could prepare 10,000 meals day 1.  I am confident that there are 100 restaurants in the area each capable of preparing 100 meals. 

Edited February 12, 2020 by ed01106

[Fido Chuckwagon]

8 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

 

You really think there are catering services standing fully staffed, menus planned, distro process planned and fresh food ready to prepare 10K meals a day, just in case? LOL

Yes?  10k is not a huge number.  I know it sounds big, but it’s not.  

[Kmkub]

4 minutes ago, Fido Chuckwagon said:

Yes?  10k is not a huge number.  I know it sounds big, but it’s not.  

Name one place I can call right this minute and order 3,700 individually packaged meals and have it in a couple of hours. I'll call them myself to check your work.

[Kmkub]

7 minutes ago, ed01106 said:

I doubt there is a single catering service in the area that could prepare 10,000 meals day 1.  I am confident that there are 100 restaurants in the area each capable of preparing 100 meals. 

So you are going to call 100 individual restaurants, ask them to send over a menu of what they can prepare and package individually, get that in an easy to digest format for the passengers, send those orders back out, 

 

.and the list goes on and on.

 

And this can all happen in a couple of hours?

 

Some of you are funny.

[LizNeedsAVacation]

Yesterday David Abel said something about 50 doctors, nurses and pharmacists coming. (I don’t have the number). He made a comment along the lines of “who the heck knows where they are going to sleep”.

Did anyone hear about this? Were they boarding and working on the ship? Or was it more people for the hospitals as more cases are taken off?

[NorthwestCruiser]

13 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

Name one place I can call right this minute and order 3,700 individually packaged meals and have it in a couple of hours. I'll call them myself to check your work.

Practically any food services provider to a large school district.   Or any airport catering company.

 

Geez, the arguments that people get into here...

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by NorthwestCruiser

[ed01106]

2 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

So you are going to call 100 individual restaurants, ask them to send over a menu of what they can prepare and package individually, get that in an easy to digest format for the passengers, send those orders back out, 

 

.and the list goes on and on.

 

And this can all happen in a couple of hours?

 

Some of you are funny.

 

Nope.  I am going to ask them if they can prepare one of three items and how many of each.  I am then gong to give the passengers those 3 choices.  Most likely I will be able to accomplish this with less than a dozen of the largest hotels.

[Aus Traveller]

5 hours ago, hal2008 said:

While that is better than nothing. I will not go on limb to call it "generous". It is pittance given how little they get in base salary anyway.

They were forced to work as biohazard workers. A lot of them privately sent video to their families (which was circulated in their respective countries) showing how little choice those poor souls have.

Two months is VERY cheap on part of Princess. Might be ok for staff who never have to face any pax (engine room operator for example)

For the staff that actually had to deliver or have any contact with passengers, should get more like TWO YEARS.

On land, these workers would have simply not shown up for work but since cruise industry treats its workers as indentured laborers, it gets away with so much.  PAY THEM MORE, Princess. (Carnival)

With their offer of two months' paid leave, I think Princess has 'hit the spot'. In my opinion, two years' paid leave is an unrealistic suggestion.

[DownByTheSea]

5 hours ago, perditax said:

 

Conversely, in my experience (which doesn't include Asia), ship internet connectivity is usually much better when in port. I guess that might not be the case now (or when they go out to take on fresh water), or the availability of streaming services is affecting it. 

 

[Wearing tech-guy hat] I figured better in-port connectivity had more to do with so many folks being off the ship on excursions. 🙂  I usually use my t-mobile free international data connection when in port in any event, so I haven't paid any attention to whether ships do something non-satellite based. 

 

When at sea, I definitely see that the ip#s come from a satellite-based internet provider, such as MTN (Maritime Telecom Network). At the moment, I'm seeing the ip#s for pax on board coming from a satellite based system. (I'm letting folks on board download any of my publishing company's ebooks for free, and it speeds up the authentication process knowing they're on board based on their ip#.)

 

Speaking of cell service, if there's cell reception near the dock, maybe they could get pax some connectivity that way. Maybe deliver them some hotspots. I'm sure they've thought of this and are doing their best. (I'm very pleased to see how helpful princess is being to them, considering the difficulty of the situation. Obviously it's not ideal, but given the problems, it's amazing. It could be so much worse. Our worst cruise ever, out of about 40, was on Silversea in the Galapagos. It was so bad that during and after there were a ton of complaints lodged with corporate by masses of passengers -- indeed, it was an ongoing problem and their CMO was on board *undercover*, until we found out -- and what did they do about it to make it right? Nothing. Blew us off. Never will sail with them again, which ends up being a needless financial loss to them. Princess, OTOH, seems to get this, and is trying to do a good job. Good on them for it.)

[Maverick61]

1 hour ago, zonacruiser25 said:

Is the quarantine having the desired effect or has the Diamond become an incubator? 

 

56 minutes ago, bluesea321 said:

 

That is the 64,000 dollar question, they just don't know. They have tested a very small number of pax/crew and everyday we get new infections. Not encouraging. 

 

The answer is YES - the quarantine IS having the desired effect.  Other than the one healthcare worker who has come down with coronavirus, it has NOT passed to the rest of Japan.  And by not sending potential carriers on a bunch of flights all over the globe, it has not passed from these specific passengers to the rest of the world.

 

The quarantine for the Diamond is doing what it is intended to do - keep the virus outbreak from passengers on the ship limited to those on the ship and not spread it beyond the ship.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Maverick61

[kathy49]

37 minutes ago, ed01106 said:

I doubt there is a single catering service in the area that could prepare 10,000 meals day 1.  I am confident that there are 100 restaurants in the area each capable of preparing 100 meals. 

not sure that really helps...point is need 100% control of conditions of prep etc. and transport.

[dog]

44 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

yes agree....some other tweets etc. indicate people have asked to be tested and no action for 2 days and someone is sick...others different stories...lack of meds. etc.  Not everyone is doing great and DAvid should never have had to go to the extent he did to get a medically required diet.

I noticed from 3 other sites from passengers on Diamond a big difference in food from what Sally showed us. The others were happy with food and lots of it. Getting what they asked for. David has special dietary needs that weren’t being fulfilled once they went into quarantine. I never got an answer from him if they were marking a menu. Do you know? Or and other passengers said they have a menu to choose from. I would expect they could write on items if not listed

[ed01106]

2 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

not sure that really helps...point is need 100% control of conditions of prep etc. and transport.

Not on land. 

[kathy49]

3 minutes ago, dog said:

I noticed from 3 other sites from passengers on Diamond a big difference in food from what Sally showed us. The others were happy with food and lots of it. Getting what they asked for. David has special dietary needs that weren’t being fulfilled once they went into quarantine. I never got an answer from him if they were marking a menu. Do you know? Or and other passengers said they have a menu to choose from. I would expect they could write on items if not listed

yes David has a menu to choose from and they have marked it...some of his complaints are that he just does not like the food...Salmon was cooked too much etc. Some think the food is fine....he has special needs but honestly not getting much different than the rest....he complains about the carbs. One Ca. woman says she wants to take the pastry chef home!! With this many passengers going to get many different experiences. He has shown some trays of food and it seemed okay..not gourmet but okay. I have gotten so confused between this ship and HAL Westerdam which I guess is not going to doc at Cambodia unless that government changes their minds...they have the cruise to no where but the run of the ship and still good food etc.

[HPSE81]

hmmm this is strange... First they tested negativ, but after a few days (no new test), they are told that they are positive? And they have no symptoms.... Can the tests be trusted? Should all be tested? 

 

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/atlanta-couple-tests-positive-coronavirus-cruise-ship-japan-son-says/X6GB22QLKNCVDHFTZ7PPGZ2XDM/?fbclid=IwAR0S-Tc9UxKDe8je5i4Wmlv6hkJQaCH_C4Mv2WC2NWDMya0ndXNQ7pbv2L8

[Alcairns]

2 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

 

i just read though that the feb 13 cruise was just canceled today. thats reallllly not enough notice for as far as a lot of people travel to get there. those people wont be happy.

 

regarding this 2 months vacation i wonder if the ship will be closed during that time or can they just hire 1000 new people in a week or so?

Which cruise are you referring to? There is no sailing on the 13th for either of the two affected vessels Diamond and Sapphire. Diamond cruises for February were cancelled a week ago! I am sure those people will be very happy they are not joining a contaminated ship with the danger of being infected! 

https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/notices/itinerary-modifications-cancellations.html

 

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, zonacruiser25 said:

As I keep following this thread, it raises more questions for me.  So if patient "0" was the initial carrier, was diagnosed and then removed from the ship and all were quarantined.  I a perfect confinement, none of the other people on board would have any contact with others and the threat would pass after the incubation period.  along the way, others develop the virus from the initial exposure and each is removed from the ship by outsiders in "moon suits" for treatment.  However, we do know that this is not how it worked.

 

So on day 1 of the outbreak, those infected are removed for treatment.  passengers are confined to cabins.  Crew continue to move about the ship in various capacities.  Food is delivered, "experts" monitored the confined passengers and more infected persons are discovered.  They are removed for treatment.  This pattern continues.  As each new case is diagnosed, wouldn't they have been infected and a "carrier" is mingling with fellow passengers before the quarantine.  (The theory that once exposed, they are "infected" and do not manifest symptoms for 14 days) 

 

So case "0" was exhibiting symptoms when quarantine started.  Now, some 10 or 11 days later, a new case is diagnosed.  Well that person likely was among everyone prior to quarantine.  They have interacted with those bringing the food, exchanging lines or testing.  The infection can continue to spread.

 

Is the quarantine having the desired effect or has the Diamond become an incubator? 

The quarantine was put in place on 3rd February, ten days ago. People who were infected prior to that might not yet be showing symptoms.

[perditax]

18 minutes ago, HPSE81 said:

hmmm this is strange... First they tested negativ, but after a few days (no new test), they are told that they are positive? And they have no symptoms.... Can the tests be trusted? Should all be tested? 

 

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/atlanta-couple-tests-positive-coronavirus-cruise-ship-japan-son-says/X6GB22QLKNCVDHFTZ7PPGZ2XDM/?fbclid=IwAR0S-Tc9UxKDe8je5i4Wmlv6hkJQaCH_C4Mv2WC2NWDMya0ndXNQ7pbv2L8

This couple is in the hospital and already recovered ... which means this all happened early in the quarantine period.

[fragilek]

I have been following quarantinedond1 on twitter and from last night he/she has started to feel under the weather with scratching throat.  Hoping it is the air con - feeling really bad for how anxious these people are starting to sound.

[clskinsfan]

David is on live tight now if anyone wants to watch.