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Crew on virus-hit ship had close contact with infected passengers

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This information is not at the forefront anymore. The high numbers of infected on the ship, without doubt, showed a lack of separation protocol.

Unfortunately the Ministry of Health still has yet to provide adequate guidance to hospitals on how to treat suspected cases of infection.

People are entering hospitals infected and are not separated.Infected are allowed home to spread the disease.

Many more cases to come!

15 ( +15 / -0 )

But the crew member questioned on what basis the government was claiming that zoning was enforced inside the ship. They also criticized how quarantine officers and others took over from the crew, saying their response was insufficient.

In a matter of speaking your heroic efforts may have helped to prevent a total disaster as you, the crew, kept the passengers from mutiny with your service. I think I would have walked off the damn ship and damn the consequences! (Easy to say from behind a keyboard!) Seriously you all did a great job in a extremely difficult situation.

Your company had better give you more compensation for literally putting your lives on the line for the passengers!

14 ( +16 / -2 )

Many things to comment. First, regardless of how reckless it sounds, it shows the bravery, loyalty and selfless spirit of seamen and crew members. Secondly, it shows how disastrously the government led the efforts to contain the virus within the vessel.

12 ( +16 / -4 )

The cruise operator is partly at fault for this. There have been numerous norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships over the years, so they should already have plans and training in place for procedures to be used against anything contagious. It should be remembered that these outbreaks can happen at sea. They should not need a government at a port to tell them the basics. Otherwise you get the ludicrous situation of having to adopt Japanese procedures in a Japanese port, Thai procedures in a Thai port, and Chinese procedures in a Chinese port, with all the potential communication problems. This also assumes authorities in such countries know more about cruise ships than the cruise operators themselves.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Poor crew members! They were always in danger everyday. If crews did not take kind care of passengers, riots might have happened in there.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Exactly as I suspected and feared. I pointed out on another thread ("Experts ponder why cruise ship quarantine failed to prevent spread of virus", Japan Today: Feb. 19) that :

Even an innocent amateur could surmise that a cruise ship could be an incubator for the novel coronavirus. If the ship was docked in a harbor with all passengers in it, it's almost certain that the ship could become an incubator itself.

The MS Princess Diamond is not a hospital ship equipped with adequate medical facilities for infection like this. The crew members might have intermingled with passengers quite casually, obviously wearing no hazmat suits as health officials do.

All in all, the international community should make strong and effective countermeasures against a conundrum like this and start negotiating measures of how to deal with a similar problem in the future.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Above 2 posts have nailed it basically.

I hope the Yanks learn from the TON of mistakes made in Yokohama!!! And Japan as well, but I wouldn't put my $$ on that bet sadly.....

4 ( +7 / -3 )

They're the crew. It was their job to be in contact with the passengers.

So? Does your job put you in a situation where you potentially could DIE? I highly doubt that was in their contracts!

Not to mention that they were technically off the clock when they came into port. They were forced into continuing to stay on the job due to circumstances and they continued to do their jobs throughout the entire fiasco.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

P.S: Work contracts don't mean death contracts. Shame on those who think the crew should die because it's their job.

Nobody thinks that. It's just malicious thinking on your part =)

3 ( +7 / -4 )

I believe training and procedures for this are mandatory for cruise ships and they also have medical personnel on board to supervise. The main problem I think, is the scale and the suddenness. I don't think even now, there's a country who has adequately prepared for it.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

You wonder why they shut that doctor up. He was right. They didn't follow basic quarantine procedures on the ship. When it comes to futzing with the stats, Xi, Trump and Abe are operating from the same manual. Perhaps they have the same teachers!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Hmmm. This is what it reads like when the Japanese government fears the lawsuits more than the virus. They should have dropped crates of food on the deck, fueled them up and sent them on their way if they didn't want the responsibility for enforcing a quarantine on this ship.

P.S: Work contracts don't mean death contracts. Shame on those who think the crew should die because it's their job.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

See what I mean? Who should do their jobs in the meantime then?

Btw, my comment was not snarky by design, if it was, that's my honest observation

1 ( +5 / -4 )

I am not familiar with the air filtration systems on cruise ships, however I have caught colds more than once on cruises. The ships are a breeding ground for so many bugs. Holding passengers and crew “hostage” on a ship was not an intelligent decision.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Although some believe that the virus likely spread via crew members, the health ministry has insisted that there were no problems with the government's handling of the situation.

This is kind of like when a Japanese "system engineer" claims their program is not buggy because it works according to specification (their own flawed specification, of course).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If you are an American, you should think about moving your mom or dad or elderly relative to small town in America where their are other relative that live in a small town, you can probably buy them a couple month, of not getting infected

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Title of article says they were in contact. I was just stating the obvious reason which the hysterics always fail to see.

Obvious? These folks did not have to just do their jobs! They were forced into the quarantine and had to deal with the passengers above and beyond.

Your snarky comments not withstanding!

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Learning from experience ?????

now US asks Canada evacuating Canadians from Grand Princess ,

Canada will quarantine their citizens not US .

My only question , why USCDC did not advice US Goverment evacuating their citizens from the beginning ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

(The)"Diamond Princess was quarantined for over two weeks resulting in more coronavirus infected passengers than if they would have disembarked immediately. Rather the opposite to what was intended" -- This quote is from Sweden's Umeå University ‎Professor (epidemiology) Joacim Rocklöv: https://www.umu.se/en/news/karantan-pa-lyxkryssaren-gav-fler-coronasmittade_8936181/

The date was Feb 28, about ten days later when the US CDC made a similar announcement, which was not lately denied by Norio Ohmagari, director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center at Japan's National Center for Global Health and Medicine. The CNN added its Mar 5's statement by top Japanese gov adviser's comment: the "infected crew members may have passed on infections to other crew members or guests." The Swedish doctor had also published at J Travel Med on the same day.

The professional verdict is nearly out. Why are citizens complacent with the knee-jerk statement by lazy officials? We should demand further medical particulars so that people aboard the Grand Princess, 50 miles off S.F. coast, and other luxury ships elsewhere will be saved. Over 26 US citizens were being quarantined in the Asara, near upper Nile's Egypt. Unless critical knowledge is quickly shared among professional organizations across the planet, the vulnerable will vanquish one after another due to magistrate arrogance. The WHO's situation report was numbered 48 as of Mar 8 since it started the first global tabulation dated Jan 21.

A Taiwanese American, once aboard the Asara, was found positive on her return via Maryland to Taiwan on Feb 28. Taiwan immediately informed the WHO which in turn told Egyptian and Maryland authorities the following day. Don't be lazy, save people.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@katy - As per "why USCDC did not advice US Government evacuating their citizens from the beginning ?" - The foreign ministry initially asked the US state dept what Japan should do about 400-strong US citizens between Feb 3-5. The US nonchalantly replied: let them be quarantined within Japan, with which the ministry complied.  

Some local vernaculars went as far as this: upto Feb 15, Japan's handling of the passengers and crew was reportedly PRAISED by THE UNITED STATES - this Zen talk must be allowed for. The local lingo is proud of its non distinction minus clear-tense conjugations, plurals, articles - definite or indefinite, where speakers' attention is more attuned to their social relations. Hence THE US referred to is not the CDC.

Speculation, abound and flourishing everywhere faster than the virus, should be avoided as much as possible but the initial readiness to the 500-million-dollar vessel was safely said to be founded on the mutual consultations of the competent authorities of both securities allies until Kentaro IWATA whistled a blow. Around Feb 18 depending where you live, ABC, BBC et al featured his video footage, despite the cabalistic removal off doc's site. A history was made in public health on this otherwise docile nation. 

Now it is the turn of the US taxpayers: Remove your tyrant's yoke by dumping tea off the bay of SF or riverbank of Upper Nile. Don't let Thomas Jefferson shed his tears. My humble respect to CDCs. WHO and other professional and sovereign people.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They were doing their job, I don't think they had to be forced into it lol. I would have done the same. Probably even you.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Epidemics is litmus test of leadership. The correct way to do it is to lift all identified patients to an isolated hospital, away from the ship, while keep all others on the ship for 14 days. To force the identified virus carriers live together with normal people is never a good idea. This is epidemics, dear leader.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Wait a minute... didn’t Kato say all this was a lie? Surely the government was telling the truth that Iwata-Sensei was a liar and the containment was perfect!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

They're the crew. It was their job to be in contact with the passengers.

So? Does your job put you in a situation where you potentially could DIE? I highly doubt that was in their contracts!

Not to mention that they were technically off the clock when they came into port. They were forced into continuing to stay on the job due to circumstances and they continued to do their jobs throughout the entire fiasco.

Title of article says they were in contact. I was just stating the obvious reason which the hysterics always fail to see.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

They're the crew. It was their job to be in contact with the passengers.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

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