Over 3,500 people quarantined on Diamond Princess cruise

[QueenElinor]

Yes, but the thing that concern me the most are my 4 kids they are young their ages are from 1 to 8. They wash their hands, but they are kids and I don't want to start giving them phobias either. I also worry that if we, parents get it, we don't have family here I the UK to be with them or if they get it they will be in isolation and we won't be able to see them. This is what worries me of this disease.

This virus, unlike flu, seems to be quite uncommon in children. Noticeably so. So even though they aren't the greatest at hygiene, you have that in your corner.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

I heard about that exercise and the outcome didn't sound great, so yes, I'm worried. Also concerned about what you said (not that I don't believe you) about not bringing UC citizens home at some point (have a DD doing a year abroad right now, but through the US Govt). I may PM you more details if that's ok.

I hit you back on PM with the specifics to your question.

For others who may be reading, we do those exercises all the time for a variety of disasters. You learn more from failure than from success. We are always preparing and learning. We are probably the most prepared for this, but make no mistake, we are also still learning because curveballs get thrown all the time.

 

[StarGirl11]

I am very impressed with how quickly (relative to other countries) the US evacuates their citizens. Always the first to react and respond.

We used to live in Bahrain for my Dads work. We were there right before and eventually after the start of the Iraq Invasion. And I remember at least with our case that we knew once the evac order came we had to be ready to leave within the matter of a couple of days from what I can recall. And it was fast when the order came through. A lot of us, myself included, were bidding farewell to friends as we were changing planes to our next destination. It’s been 18 years now and I still remember saying goodbye to a friend in Amsterdam after arriving from Bahrain and moving to make our respective connections (she was headed to SoCal and I was headed to the Bay Area). That’s how fast it all went. Not enough time to process or really say goodbye. Just here’s the order finally (it was apparent even to us older kids (I was 12) what was about to happen) start making final preparations. We had just enough time to make sure we were assigned to the correct ‘home’ area (Dads company employees all have a central location that there sort of expected to return when between projects, this wasn’t where we wanted to go) but not much else beyond that.

I can’t speak for how quick the actual evacuation took place for others in our position. But for us I remember most of the flights were taking off in a 24-48 hr time period. I remember since I we were on some of the earlier flights and I knew a couple of kids that were on the later flights.

I won’t go into the full details of our evacuation beyond that. Since it will definitely look weird on the internet and not fully understanding the coping mechanism with the inevitable evac. But due to a few events leading up I know we at least had an idea the order was coming upwards of a week, certainly more just not sure how much more.

And the story I read on the Wuhan evacuation sounded very similar for some. Unsure about if they would be evacuated and once they were confirmed on the flight they had to move fast.

Point here is once the evac order comes through things move at an extremely rapid fire pace most don’t even realize.

And another lesson for anyone who ever finds themselves in a situation like this. If you have any inkling you might be about to be evaced start prepping before the order comes. In a non cruise situation this means try having a bag, a blanket (we did, we weren’t entirely sure what was going to happen once the order went out). Since once it comes your not going to have a whole lot of time to prepare. So anything that is essential should already be packed away and just throw the non essentialls in. This is important since your probably talking on a magnitude of a few days from getting the info your going to evaced.

The Diamond Princess group is arguably a ‘best case’ scenario with evacuation strangely enough since you knee when you were going to be evaced. And most likely anything personal on the ship they were allowed to take with them. That’s not going to always happen with evacuations.

This graph is very good to show why this virus is so bad. Hospitalisation is so high and recovery so slow. Look how many people have been diagnosed compared to how many have been discharged in Singapore. Which has an admirable health system.

Having had run of the mill pneumonia before this doesn’t entirely surprise me. Even full recovery from that can take a while. I can’t imagine what it’s like for a nastier version like ConVid.

 

[Starwind]

Per Japanese government announcement, an additional 90 cases have been found on the Diamond Princess. OF the 90 70 are asymptomatic.

Grand total for the ship is now: 454 of the 1,723 people tested (including 189 asymptomatic pathogen carriers.

Translation per Google.

Source: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_09568.html

QUOTE

New Coronavirus Infections Confirmed on a Cruise Ship Quarantined at Yokohama Port (Report 11)
　The cruise ship Diamond Princess, which arrived at Yokohama Port on February 3, is undergoing quarantine at sea. A new coronavirus test was conducted, including those with high fever and other symptoms, especially those considered to be at high risk from the perspective of ensuring health due to long-term stay on board, and the results were found. Of 504, 99 (including 70 asymptomatic pathogen carriers) were confirmed to be positive for the new coronavirus. In the future, it will be transported to medical institutions with infectious disease wards. Positive cases were confirmed in 454 of the 1,723 people tested (including 189 asymptomatic pathogen carriers (*)).

　Those who are transported include elderly people and foreign nationals, and it is necessary to take measures that take into account physical conditions. The press is requested to give special consideration to coverage of this matter.

　Quarantine of the cruise ship continues to be implemented. A new coronavirus test is conducted for those who need it, and the results will be announced later.
(*) In addition to 111 persons as of yesterday, 70 persons whose results were found today are added, and eight persons who have already been known and who have been in close contact with positive patients who have disembarked in Hong Kong are added.

END QUOTE

 

[GlamMistress]

Of the new cases, 14 were on the evac flight back to the US. They were put in a special "unit" on the plane. Really crazy stuff.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229300620391112704

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Of the new cases, 14 were on the evac flight back to the US. They were put in a special "unit" on the plane. Really crazy stuff.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229300620391112704

Yeah who knows how many they infected when they were in contact with the others before they realised that they actually had the virus!

 

[Starwind]

An additional Japanese Ministry of Health official has tested positive. They are not being counted in the Diamond Princess numbers. This brings to two the number of government officials who got infected related to the ship.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_09558.html
Per Google translate:

QUOTE

New Coronavirus Infected (Information provided)
　The cruise ship Diamond Princess, which arrived at Yokohama Port on February 3, is undergoing quarantine at sea. Was confirmed to have been infected.
　The person has already been hospitalized and started treatment. In the past interviews, it is considered that there are no close contacts, but in the future, further investigation will be carried out, and we will cooperate with active epidemiological investigations conducted by public health centers.
　In light of this situation, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will re-check the appropriate infection prevention measures for the staff engaged in the work and make every effort to take necessary measures.


END QUOTE

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Thailand and Malaysian have banned passengers from the Westerdam ship to enter the country... I fear is a bit late for that though!

 

[Starwind]

Of the new cases, 14 were on the evac flight back to the US. They were put in a special "unit" on the plane. Really crazy stuff.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229300620391112704

Yep. See

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229296746515369984

Which is from

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229296746515369984

(I have not been able to find an official source of the announcement)

ETA: Official US Govt statement is at US Dept of State website: https://www.state.gov/joint-stateme...engers-from-the-diamond-princess-cruise-ship/

 

[Gentry2004]

Wonder what will happen with Matthew Smith, the American and his wife who didn’t evacuate?

 

[GlamMistress]

Wonder what will happen with Matthew Smith, the American and his wife who didn’t evacuate?

Well he is pleased with his decision at the moment. I'm continuing to follow him through this saga

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229329824616812544

 

[Gentry2004]

The 14 on the plane who tested positive are NOT symptomatic.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

Well he is pleased with his decision at the moment. I'm continuing to follow him through this saga

https://twitter.com/x/status/1229329824616812544

He will remain under the authority of the Japanese Government. If he doesn’t get sick and is released from “quarantine,” he will most likely be put back into an official federal and local quarantine on arrival home, IF he can get home. He is a stupid stupid man for staying in a place where the outbreak is not contained and he has added to his confinement. He also will be homeless when he’s booted from the ship and no government or private company will have any legal responsibility to care for him, unless of course he is sick. Very shortsighted move. I hope he enjoys himself.

But the sky is not falling. When CDC or NIH say its tru asymptomatic spread, I will believe it. People will say and do anything to be evac’d including taking Dayquil. This is not evidence because theres no control.

I’d also like to remind everyone that we are still contained AND we still have the capacity to treat every single one of these cases coming to the US. I’d also like to point out, once again, that the vast majority of cases DO NOT become severe or even require hospitalization. The vast majority of people RECOVER.

 

[MarkLT1]

The vast majority of people RECOVER.

And if the WHO reports are to be believed (and I see no reason not to), the vast majority of people have mild cold-like symptoms (let alone being 'not serious'). The kind of symptoms many people typically have a few times per year. Again, not to poo-poo (pooh pooh?) this, as it is definitely a serious bug as we're seeing in China. However here in the US, there is no need for worry/panic at the moment. And for the love of all that is good.. wash your hands people!!

 

[Gentry2004]

He will remain under the authority of the Japanese Government. If he doesn’t get sick and is released from “quarantine,” he will most likely be put back into an official federal and local quarantine on arrival home, IF he can get home. He is a stupid stupid man for staying in a place where the outbreak is not contained and he has added to his confinement. He also will be homeless when he’s booted from the ship and no government or private company will have any legal responsibility to care for him, unless of course he is sick. Very shortsighted move. I hope he enjoys himself.

But the sky is not falling. When CDC or NIH say its tru asymptomatic spread, I will believe it. People will say and do anything to be evac’d including taking Dayquil. This is not evidence because theres no control.

I’d also like to remind everyone that we are still contained AND we still have the capacity to treat every single one of these cases coming to the US. I’d also like to point out, once again, that the vast majority of cases DO NOT become severe or even require hospitalization. The vast majority of people RECOVER.

All I keep thinking is he must be very wealthy if he's able to remain abroad indefinitely on his own dime. The US Cits who evacuated don't have to pay for their flight or their quarantine. And yes they lose time at work but hopefully their companies understand that they are doing what the US Govt is telling them to. Mr. Smith must be independently wealthy.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

All I keep thinking is he must be very wealthy if he's able to remain abroad indefinitely on his own dime. The US Cits who evacuated don't have to pay for their flight or their quarantine. And yes they lose time at work but hopefully their companies understand that they are doing what the US Govt is telling them to. Mr. Smith must be independently wealthy.

Right!? Loss of time, loss of money, loss of mind. Enjoy, bru.

Again, not to poo-poo (pooh pooh?) wash your hands people!!

This right here!!!

My theory is that one of the methods of transmission is from the clean sheets being delivered. HE washers don’t get hot enough to kill super bugs. There was a story not too long ago about an outbreak of Kleb (gastrointestinal hospital born super bug) in a German maternity ward. Turned out the sheets weren’t being washed at a hot enough temp and just kept cycling the bacteria to new unsuspecting patients including newborns.
Hot water and hand sansi.

 

[QueenElinor]

The 14 on the plane who tested positive are NOT symptomatic.

They're also in isolation. Mr. Smith does not seem well-informed.
I think he might be like a lot of docs I know who think they're pilots. He's an attorney who thinks he's a doc. Either way, that kind of thinking can be dangerous to your health.

 

[Gentry2004]

They're also in isolation. Mr. Smith does not seem well-informed.
I think he might be like a lot of docs I know who think they're pilots. He's an attorney who thinks he's a doc. Either way, that kind of thinking can be dangerous to your health.

The evacuees who landed Feb 16/17 will be free to resume their lives March 3. He cannot even hope to leave Japan before March 4, and who knows what will happen then. I'm thinking he chose poorly.

 

[Kennywood]

I'm thinking he chose poorly.

 

[MarkLT1]

The evacuees who landed Feb 16/17 will be free to resume their lives March 3. He cannot even hope to leave Japan before March 4, and who knows what will happen then. I'm thinking he chose poorly.

The only reason I can see him not wanting to come back to the US, is if he is an ex-pat, who was already working/living, in say, Japan. Even then, his decision makes me scratch my head... but hey.. his decision- he'll be the one to live with the consequences, and I hope it all works out well for him.