YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - The captain came over the intercom early in the evening: A passenger who had left the ship nine days earlier had tested positive for the new coronavirus sweeping through China.
"We didn't really consider the danger of leaving the room," said Mr Torres, 24, an occupational therapist."And since we were on our honeymoon, we refused to waste our last moments on the cruise." With 634 infections and two deaths, the cruise ship represents the largest concentration of coronavirus cases outside China, meriting its own category in the data compiled by the World Health Organisation.
Now that the quarantine has ended and most of the passengers have left, the concern is that they could start spreading the virus on shore. A spokeswoman for Princess Cruises said the company received"formal verification" of the infection from Hong Kong on Feb 3, and announced it to passengers on the ship that evening.
The Japanese Health Ministry had now confirmed 10 cases of the coronavirus on the ship, he told them. Memories of art auctions, afternoon high teas, quiz nights and mahjong games all took on a sinister hue. Mr Gay Courter, 75, an American novelist from Crystal River, Florida, who once set a murder mystery on a cruise, dwelled on the ship's last stop, in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.
Passengers took to counting ambulances lined up on the pier to guess how many new infections would be announced that day. Japanese guests hung banners off balconies, with one reading,"Serious lack of medicine, lack of information."On the second day, health officials began letting those in windowless cabins out for fresh air breaks. It wasn't until the next day that passengers were warned to keep more than six feet away from anyone else.
Jap officials: 1. Mostly pre-quarantine transmission 2. Proper quarantine measures 3. Demarcation of zones On-the-ground reports: 1. Symptomatic passengers not evacuated immediately 2. Crew with flu symptoms serving customers 3. 'Green' and 'red' zone doors lead to the same hall
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