Passengers of Diamond Princess share their experience on what it’s like to be inside a cruise ship quarantined for 14 days in Japan because at least 20 passengers and crew were tested positive for the novel coronavirus that has killed around 560 people in China.
“It is like a prison. A posh prison,” British passenger David Abel said in a live video streaming interview with Channel 4 News of UK.
Diamond Princess, with 3,700 passengers and crew on board, has been placed on preventive 14-day quarantine in Yokohama port after 20 passengers and crew were tested positive of the nCoV-ARD virus. One of those tested positive is a Filipino crew member.
Abel said that passengers are required to stay inside their cabin for 24 hours. Their food will come when one of the crew, “all masked up” would knock on their doors and hand their meals and pick them up once they are done.
Passengers who are booked in cabin section experience worst because they have no windows, they cannot breath fresh air. He was lucky he was staying in a room with balcony.
They are allowed one or two whisky a day, and one cup of coffee per day.
Abel, who is a diabetic, said the cruise ship captain has announced that the passengers who required maintenance medication will be given free meds. “I think that is wonderful. It is Princess bending backwards for the sake of the passengers,” he added.
Passengers are also allowed to communicate online.
The British passenger he “knows” the patient zero passenger who was the first nCoV carrier and got off Hong Kong “was swimming in the swimming pool.” He did not swim in the pool, but its possible that he could have infected other passengers who used the pool in the cruise ship, he added.
A Japanese passenger going by the Twitter handle @daxa_tw has been sharing photos and audio of announcements by ship captain inside Diamond Princess.
This afternoon, he tweeted that the captain spoke over the speaker. He apologized for not being able to communicate earlier pending disembarkation of 20 passengers and crew who were tested positive.
He said they just got the greenlight from Japanese authorities to allow passengers to leave their cabin but they are required to wear masks and to avoid congregating in groups. If they talk to passengers, they must have at least 1 meter-distance from each other.
Upon return to cabin, passengers are required to wash hands for 20 seconds and blow their noses.
