There are currently at least 705 confirmed cases of coronavirus that stemmed from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Four Diamond Princess passengers have died.
There were 3700 passengers on the ship. We know everyone who was on the ship and mostly know who they are contacting.
Eight public servants who worked on the ship to support the quarantine have tested positive for COVID-19, and more may follow. Most of the roughly 90 health ministry employees who visited the ship during the first 2-week quarantine that ended on 19 February initially returned to their normal work duties, but in light of the infections, the health ministry yesterday revised its policy and now those potentially exposed to the virus on the Diamond Princess are self-quarantining at home for 14 days.
Normally, those supporting a quarantine don’t have to be quarantined themselves, presuming they use personal protection equipment (PPE)—masks, gloves, goggles, and gowns. The equipment was not used properly. Paul Hunter, an infectious disease epidemiologist at University of East Anglia, believes the officers who worked onboard the Diamond Princess should have been quarantined once the problems with infection control came to light.
The 700 confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the Diamond Princess do not count infections discovered among passengers after they’ve gone home. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 36 American Diamond Princess passengers who returned on emergency flights have been confirmed as carrying the virus.
It had ineffective quarantine. The virus got to 19% of the people on the ship. There seem to have been 84 new cases since most of the passengers were released. At the time there were 621 infected after the 14-day quarantine. It seems the quarantine period should be 30 days. There have been incubation periods of up to 27 days.
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