News on the Westerdam

[Wehwalt]

It's good to hear that some of the passengers made it home, and that when arriving in Sihanoukville, visited the town and the beach. I seem to recall some discussion on the latter point.

[kazu]

8 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Has anyone heard from our CC friends Sailing Duchy ?

 

7 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

They may be stuck somewhere.  I emailed them both today in the hope they were on line! I did get emails from them on Thursday - They said they were fine.

 

I emailed them yesterday too.  Haven’t heard anything back either.  Not sure if that meant they were flying or stuck somewhere with no wifi.

[kazu]

7 hours ago, pictonite said:

Just an update from one who is in Phnom Penh waiting to return home. (That is - on the front line!)

 

pictonite - thank you SO much for coming on and updating us.  

 

Very much appreciate the updates and clarifications.

 

I hope you and everyone else there all test negative and get home safely soon.

[fragilek]

Just seen a video from the ship they are having a cocktail night with free cocktails- no masks, entertainment still ongoing too.- At the moment it seems to be a look the other way approach on the ship, especially given the fact that those off the ship are now being told to wear masks.

 

 Hope this doesn't backfire on everyone involved especially the passengers. 

[kazu]

Well, it appears no matter how you evacuate passengers you can’t win.

 

One of the chartered flights coming back to the U.S. carrying the evacuated Diamond Princess passengers has 14 people infected with the coronavirus on that plane!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/health/evacuated-passengers-test-positive-coronavirus/index.html

 

 

[fragilek]

From CNN

 

Thailand will ban all passengers except Thai nationals from the Holland America Westerdam cruise ship, the Public Health Minsniter, Anutin Charnvirakul, said Monday.

One passenger is said to have tested positive for the virus by Malaysian authorities after she was transiting through the country. Passengers from the ship disembarked in Cambodia on Friday after being refused entry at several ports – including in Thailand.

Charnvirakul said all passengers will be banned from entry until “incubation period is over" for 14 days following from February 14.

 

[fragilek]

Just now, fragilek said:

From CNN

 

Thailand will ban all passengers except Thai nationals from the Holland America Westerdam cruise ship, the Public Health Minsniter, Anutin Charnvirakul, said Monday.

One passenger is said to have tested positive for the virus by Malaysian authorities after she was transiting through the country. Passengers from the ship disembarked in Cambodia on Friday after being refused entry at several ports – including in Thailand.

Charnvirakul said all passengers will be banned from entry until “incubation period is over" for 14 days following from February 14.

 

 

 

 

 

 Not sure how that makes any difference if they are not in quarantine from 14 unless no-one else tests positive

[dado123456]

 

35 Westerdam Passengers Found Clear of COVID-19 at Thai Airport

BANGKOK, Feb. 17 (Bangkok Post) - Two Thai passengers on board the luxury cruise ship Westerdam have no sign of the coronavirus, though a 83-year-old American passenger of the luxury cruise ship twice tested positive for Covid-19 by Malaysian health officials.

Two Thai passengers are among the 35 passengers of the luxury cruise who arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday.

Public Health Ministry spokesman Rungrueng Kitphati said all 35 passengers were screened for coronavirus and tested negative and cleared. The passengers arrived yesterday after being screened and cleared by Cambodian health authorities as they head back to their respective countries.

 

http://m.en.freshnewsasia.com/index.php/en/internationalnews/16745-2020-02-17-06-40-07.html

[HALrunner]

This update from HAL an hour ago on FB:

Westerdam Update: Westerdam remains alongside in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where officials from the Cambodian Health Ministry are on board today to complete testing for COVID-19 on the 255 guests and 747 crew that are awaiting clearance. We anticipate this will take several days and greatly appreciate the thoroughness of all authorities involved in resolving this situation.

Guests at a hotel in Phnom Penh have all completed the COVID-19 screening. Results are being returned when completed, with the first batch of 406 all being negative. Cleared guests may travel home, and arrangements are being made for those guests.

Guests in both locations are being very well cared for, including assistance with any medications needed. A full team is on the ground in both Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, including Holland America Line’s President Orlando Ashford. We are communicating updates regularly as new information becomes available. A special hotline has been established for families.

One female guest remains in a hospital in Malaysia with a reported positive result for COVID-19 according to Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. She is currently in stable condition. Her traveling companion tested negative for COVID-19.

"We are in close coordination with some of the leading health experts from around the world," said Dr. Grant Tarling, Chief Medical Officer for Holland America Line. "These experts are working with the appropriate national health authorities to investigate and follow-up with any individuals who may have come in contact with the guest."

Holland America Line continues to work closely and in compliance with government and health officials in Malaysia and Cambodia, as well as experts in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). At this time, no other guests or crew on board or at the hotel have reported any symptoms of the illness. Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and provided further information.

Prior to arrival in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Holland America Line undertook significant precautions to ensure the health and safety of our guests and crew. On Feb. 10, 2020, all 2,257 passengers and crew were screened for illness including the taking of individual temperatures. No individual at that time was identified with an elevated temperature. Guests who were able to disembark in Cambodia underwent additional health screening and temperature checks. Furthermore, the passports of everyone on board were reviewed to ensure no one had traveled through mainland China in the 14 days prior to the cruise.

During the voyage there was no indication of COVID-19 on the ship. The guest who tested positive did not visit the ship’s medical center to report any symptoms of illness. An additional 20 guests who reported to the medical center during the cruise were tested by health officials for COVID-19, and all results were confirmed negative.

Holland America Line will provide a further update once we have more information.

 

 

 

 

[ladymadeline]

Was there only one Holland America ship in the Far East recently?

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, ladymadeline said:

Was there only one Holland America ship in the Far East recently?

 

Yes.  This season it was the Westerdam.

 

Next Asia season it is the Noordam

[Alphen]

16 minutes ago, ladymadeline said:

Was there only one Holland America ship in the Far East recently?

This is where they are currently, none of them, other than Westerdam, is or has been in Asia in the last few weeks.

 

 

 

Amsterdam is crossing the Pacific on her way to New Zealand and Australia from Chile, both Maasdam and Noordam are in the Oceanic region.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Alphen

[ger_77]

13 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Yes.  This season it was the Westerdam.

 

Next Asia season it is the Noordam

Last year it was the Maasdam; we are so thankful we were there then, instead of now.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[gatour]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

Well, it appears no matter how you evacuate passengers you can’t win.

 

One of the chartered flights coming back to the U.S. carrying the evacuated Diamond Princess passengers has 14 people infected with the coronavirus on that plane!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/health/evacuated-passengers-test-positive-coronavirus/index.html

 

 

One thing to keep in mind the other passengers on that flight were also from Diamond Princess.

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, gatour said:

One thing to keep in mind the other passengers on that flight were also from Diamond Princess.

 

They were ALL from Diamond Princess.  it was one of the flights that the U.S. chartered - a converted cargo plane.

 

[HappyInVan]

Here's the short version of a post I made at the MSC forum...

 

"AFAIK, respiratory diseases have to expel the bacteria/virus in order to infect new hosts. Therefore, infected persons are not contagious until they show symptoms like sneezing or dripping nose....

 

The problem with COVID 19 is that 80% of the infected show minor symptoms.

 

So, it is possible to fail to identify (using thermal scans and self-reporting) those with mild symptoms. However, they are infectious as long as they expel body fluids and particles.

 

The Westerdam case is a failure of containment. The pax were released (without quarantine) after just 14 days, without a laboratory test for everyone.

 

The single confirmed case was likely self-medicating to suppress flu symptoms. However, she was eventually detected by a thermal scan(?), and confirmed with two laboratory tests.

 

The upside is that if she was able to suppress her symptoms throughout the 14 days, then no one else may be infected...."

 

 

 

[Tampa Girl]

11 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

Here's the short version of a post I made at the MSC forum...

 

"AFAIK, respiratory diseases have to expel the bacteria/virus in order to infect new hosts. Therefore, infected persons are not contagious until they show symptoms like sneezing or dripping nose....

 

The problem with COVID 19 is that 80% of the infected show minor symptoms.

 

So, it is possible to fail to identify (using thermal scans and self-reporting) those with mild symptoms. However, they are infectious as long as they expel body fluids and particles.

 

The Westerdam case is a failure of containment. The pax were released (without quarantine) after just 14 days, without a laboratory test for everyone.

 

The single confirmed case was likely self-medicating to suppress flu symptoms. However, she was eventually detected by a thermal scan(?), and confirmed with two laboratory tests.

 

The upside is that if she was able to suppress her symptoms throughout the 14 days, then no one else may be infected...."

 

 

 

 

So how is this a failure of containment?  So far, there has been only one passenger who has tested positive.

[zonacruiser25]

Sounds like those left on-board are having a good time.  I hope they all continue to test negative!  I doubt they will be allowed off for a while given all the developments.  I hope that all the people caught up in the transportation nightmare can get to their homes soon.  It's one thing to be stuck on the ship, quite another to be whisked off to other countries and have no idea when the "nightmare" will end!

[HappyInVan]

27 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

So how is this a failure of containment?  So far, there has been only one passenger who has tested positive.

 

There has only been one confirmed case due to sheer luck. On the Diamond Princess,  a single passenger (on board for only 5 days) started a chain of infection that has infected 10% of those on board.

 

Containment has failed because returning passengers are being reexamined and asked to self-isolate in Canada...

 

"Now, Canadian health officials are asking passengers who were on the Westerdam and who are returning to Canada to isolate themselves for 14 days after they return, and to report to local public health authorities within 24 hours to be monitored for symptoms of the COVID‑19

In a statement Sunday, Tammy Jarbeau, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada said Westerdam passengers will undergo further examination and screening.

The statement said Canadian passengers from the MS Westerdam were identified so that they would be screened when they returned to Canada. The Canadian passengers will be asked to inform authorities where they will be, so public health authorities can follow up.

The statement said some travellers returned before these measures were put in place. Health officials and the Canada Border Services Agency are working together to identify those individuals who will be contacted, the statement said."

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/westerdam-cruise-canadians-return-home-1.5466131

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by HappyInVan

[AncientWanderer]

Seems like there would have to be more cases in the coming days. 

 

But I'm wondering about how lame CDC was back at embarkation time in Hong Kong.  HAL sailed under cover of CDC and WHO recommendations.  Why weren't those organizations more ready for prime time?

[bfgood2]

Ok, let's see. Self-quarantine. Is that realistic? The first thing we do after being on 2 commercial flights is retrieve our luggage in the airport, then take a 2 hr. bus ride, then the next morning we go grocery shopping. Nobody goes away for over 2 weeks with a full frig. at home. That sounds like a good plan to self-quarantine.....

[cruiserchuck]

20 minutes ago, bfgood2 said:

Ok, let's see. Self-quarantine. Is that realistic? The first thing we do after being on 2 commercial flights is retrieve our luggage in the airport, then take a 2 hr. bus ride, then the next morning we go grocery shopping. Nobody goes away for over 2 weeks with a full frig. at home. That sounds like a good plan to self-quarantine.....

 

A trip to Costco after return from the Westerdam is a necessity.

 

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/henderson/coronavirus-scares-asia-cruise-as-couple-returns-to-las-vegas-valley-1959188/

[freetalkfreelaugh]

You order your groceries on line and they deliver to your house and leave them at the front door. You should not go grocery shopping and if you need anything Amazon will deliver everything to your house. 

 

 

 

[kazu]

38 minutes ago, bfgood2 said:

Ok, let's see. Self-quarantine. Is that realistic? The first thing we do after being on 2 commercial flights is retrieve our luggage in the airport, then take a 2 hr. bus ride, then the next morning we go grocery shopping. Nobody goes away for over 2 weeks with a full frig. at home. That sounds like a good plan to self-quarantine.....

 

Lots of people who have been to China are self quarantining.

 

It’s not as hard as it sounds.  They have a system where they phone a support group.  Someone picks up whatever they need and place it on the front step/porch/by the front door.  Then they ring the bell or phone them to let them know it is there and leave.

 

People are really pitching in to help make it easier and it’s good to hear 🙂 

 

Of course, if groceries can be ordered  (and that is another service being done in some places where no on line grocery service is available) for delivery that is even better and the same procedure is followed.

 

Maybe it’s a Canadian thing but there are lots of great stories on the news about others helping those in self quarantine.  

 

Self quarantine can be done.  

[cruiseing marly]

16 minutes ago, freetalkfreelaugh said:

You order your groceries on line and they deliver to your house and leave them at the front door. You should not go grocery shopping and if you need anything Amazon will deliver everything to your house. 

You could also ask friends os family to stock your living Quarters . We cannot let this get out of control !! have someone bring a car to the Airport to drive home in . Avoiding contact as much as possible with others on your trip back.