1,800 people are stranded on a liner, moored in Hong Kong, after the discovery of three cases of coronavirus on board.
Yesterday in Japan, today in Hong Kong. The 1,800 occupants of a cruise ship, the “World Dream”, are retained on board this Wednesday by local authorities to pass medical tests, after three cases of coronavirus detected in recent passengers of the ship.
“No passenger or crew member is allowed to disembark” until local health officials give the green light, said Leung Yiu-hong, a Hong Kong health official, on Wednesday.
Passengers, reached by telephone, explain that they are “very disappointed” because they would not have boarded if they had known that people were potentially infected. Mr. Ng, one of the passengers also deplores having seen passengers walking around without mask on the boat.
Similar case in Japan
A similar case happened off the coast of Japan. Some 3,700 people of dozens of different nationalities find themselves trapped, for at least 14 days, in their cabins on board a cruise ship in Japan after the discovery of at least 10 cases of coronavirus on board .
Japanese authorities began Tuesday to detect possible contamination on this boat, the “Diamond Princess”, arrived Monday evening near the port of Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. Because a case of coronavirus was detected in Hong Kong in a person who had previously been on board. The ten people who tested positive were landed early Wednesday and hospitalized.
False alert in Italy
On January 30, 7,000 passengers stranded off Rome were able to disembark after 12 hours of waiting. The health authorities were put on alert very quickly because a 54-year-old Chinese tourist had fever and a strong cough.
Three doctors and a nurse went on board to take samples from the tourist and her husband who had been placed in isolation in their cabin.
Cruise passengers at half mast
Since Thursday, January 30, the main world cruise lines have canceled their scheduled departures from Chinese ports in reaction to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, against which China has already suspended organized trips to and from the country. ‘foreign.
The same day, the Swiss company MSC Cruises announced it had canceled three cruises of the ship “Splendida”, which can accommodate up to 6880 people and to depart from Shanghai on 1 st , 5 and 9 February for short trips to Japan.
