Member-only story
Inside The Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Currently Quarantined In Japan
The 18-deck Diamond Princess cruise ship is Princess Cruises’ crown jewel, and it’s currently home to 3,700 under quarantine due to the coronavirus.
The coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, now officially named COVID-19, continues to dominate headlines and news around the globe, but special attention has been paid to the Diamond Princess cruise ship that remains under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan.
The Diamond Princess set sail from Yokohama on January 20th and was scheduled to return on February 4th. However, on February 1st, a guest that disembarked the vessel on January 25th in Hong Kong tested positive for the coronavirus. The Diamond Princess was then put under quarantine on February 4th after more cases were confirmed, and the quarantine was scheduled to last until February 19th, a length determined by the suspected 14-day incubation period of COVID-19.
However, several governments, including that of Canada and U.S., announced this weekend (February 15–16) that they would be evacuating their respective citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The execution, however, at least on the part of the U.S., was poor. According to the New York Times, U.S. officials “started bringing the passengers home without actually knowing their test results.”
14 passengers tested positive for the coronavirus, but when the results were delivered, the passengers were already being transported to the airport for evacuation. “Because the evacuation had already begun by the time Japanese officials relayed those results”, a Times report said, “officials decided to let the infected evacuees, who were not yet exhibiting symptoms, board the planes and sit in the back, separated from other passengers by plastic sheets about 10 feet tall.”
According to a statement by Princess Cruises, the Diamond Princess set sail from Yokohama carrying 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew members, less than 100 people shy of its maximum capacity of 2,670 guests and 1,100 crew members. While over 300 Americans are on their way home, a majority of the guests remain on the Diamond Princess. The situation may seem straight out of a horror movie…
