Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Quarantined Cruise Ship A Textbook Example Of How Not To Handle A Crisis, Experts Say
Reuters: Japan Cruise Ship Coronavirus Cases Climb To 175, Including Quarantine Officer
Another 39 people have tested positive for the coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan, with one quarantine officer also infected, bringing the total to 175, the health ministry said on Wednesday. The Diamond Princess was placed in quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, on Feb. 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was diagnosed with the virus. (2/12)
The New York Times: Quarantined Cruise Passengers Have Many Questions. Japan Has Few Answers.
The 3,600 people aboard the Diamond Princess, locked down for more than a week and desperate for information, have been reduced to peering out windows as hazmat-suited workers take away the newest coronavirus patients and mysterious buses, their interiors shrouded by curtains, come and go from the port. They have Wi-Fi, but it is spotty, and even if it were not, they might search in vain for information about their plight from tight-lipped Japanese authorities. (Rich and Dooley, 2/11)
The Washington Post: Diamond Princess Crew Fear No Protections From Coronavirus On Ship
Crew members aboard the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship say they are terrified of catching the deadly coronavirus yet aren't being afforded the same protections as the passengers they serve. Ten shipboard workers have been confirmed as having caught the virus, and others feel sick — but unlike the passengers, no effort is being made to keep them apart from one another, they said. (Denyer, Dutta and Kashiwagi, 2/11)
WBUR: Coronavirus Casts A Pall Over Cruise Industry At Height Of Booking Season
The Diamond Princess cruise ship has become a symbol of a global health nightmare. To date, 135 cases of the coronavirus — the infectious disease the World Health Organization is now calling COVID-19 — have been confirmed aboard the ship. David Abel is one of the remaining 3,600 people on board, quarantined in waters off the coast of Japan until at least Feb. 19. He's been documenting life in quarantine: Medical staff doing checkups through the night, small boats ferrying supplies of food and medicine. (Noguchi, 2/12)
Reuters: U.S. Evacuees Freed From Coronavirus Quarantine, Officials Fear Discrimination
Nearly 200 people evacuated from the China coronavirus outbreak were released from quarantine in California on Tuesday with officials urging Americans not to shun them, or workers who helped them, after both groups faced discrimination. The 195 U.S. citizens, mostly U.S. State Department employees and their families, underwent the United States' first mandatory quarantine since 1963 after they were evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan. (2/11)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Quarantine Ends As Evacuees Leave Riverside Base
After flying halfway around the world to flee a deadly viral outbreak and then spending two weeks quarantined at a California military base, a group of Americans evacuated from China couldn’t help but celebrate Tuesday morning. Following a series of final screenings, all 195 Americans quarantined amid the coronavirus outbreak were cleared to leave March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, where they had been confined the last 14 days. (Shalby, 2/11)
NPR: 195 Americans Released From Coronavirus Quarantine At Southern California Air Base
The group, which faced numerous health screenings both in China and during their trip and quarantine, has now been "medically cleared," health officials said Tuesday, making it possible for them to leave the March Air Reserve Base in Southern California. "Our guests at March Air Reserve Base are happy to see an official end today to their 14-day quarantine and are looking forward to returning home. We wish them well!" Riverside University Health System - Public Health said via Facebook Tuesday, posting an image of the evacuees gathered together outside, tossing blue face masks into the air. (Chappell, 2/11)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 200 Georgia Residents Are Being Monitored For Coronavirus
Nearly 200 Georgia residents are quarantined in their homes after returning from recent trips to China, where a deadly new coronavirus has sickened more than 40,000 people. So far, Georgia authorities said Tuesday, none of the Georgia residents has shown symptoms of the virus. And none visited China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak. They are sequestered because they traveled to other parts of that country, where the virus is also spreading rapidly. (Oliviero, 2/11)
Georgia Health News: About 200 People Here ‘Self-Monitoring’ After Travel To China
Dozens of people in Georgia who have recently traveled to China are ‘‘self-monitoring’’ for possible symptoms of the novel coronavirus, Public Health officials said Tuesday. None so far has emerged with symptoms or has warranted being quarantined, said Cherie Drenzek, the state epidemiologist. (Miller, 2/11)
The Associated Press: Virus Puts Hong Kong Protests On Ice. Will They Return?
The crowd lining up recently on a cold, dark Hong Kong street wasn't part of the anti-government protest movement that rocked the semi-autonomous Chinese territory for months. Their demand: surgical masks, now in short supply as fears grow over a new virus that has claimed more than 1,000 lives across the border in mainland China and one in Hong Kong. (Ng, 2/11)
The Associated Press: 2 Russians Flee Virus Quarantine, In Dismay At Hospitals
One patient jumped out of a hospital window to escape her quarantine and another managed to break out by disabling an electronic lock. Two Russian women who were kept in isolation for possible inflection by a new virus say they fled from their hospitals this month because of uncooperative doctors, poor conditions and fear they would become infected. Russian health authorities haven’t commented on their complaints. (Heintz and Litvinova, 2/12)
The Washington Post: British Coronavirus ‘Superspreader’ May Have Infected At Least 11 People In Three Countries
The story of a traveling British businessman who appears to have passed the coronavirus to Britons in at least three countries has prompted concerns over a "superspreader" who could play an outsize role in transmitting the infection. A British national may have unwittingly spread the pneumonia-like virus to at least 11 people in the course of his travels from Singapore to France to Switzerland to England, according to public health authorities and accounts in the British media. (Adam, 2/11)
CNBC: What Is A Coronavirus COVID-19 Super Spreader? Infections, Explained
A British businessman who likely contracted coronavirus in Singapore, and traveled to France, Switzerland and England, is being dubbed a “super spreader” of the virus, because he has infected at least 11 people, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The man, Steve Walsh, said he has “fully recovered” from coronavirus, which was renamed COVID-19 on Tuesday. COVID-19 has infected a total of 43,100 people in China and caused 1,018 deaths to date. The infection has spread to 24 countries, although the majority of the cases are in China. (Stieg, 2/11)
WBUR: WHO Africa Official: Continent Remains At ‘High Risk’ For Potential Coronavirus
So far, more than 1,000 people have died from COVID-19, mostly in China.But on the continent of Africa, where an estimated 1 million Chinese people live, there are no confirmed cases. Michel Yao, head of emergency response operations in Africa for WHO, says the continent remains at high risk. (Hobson, 2/11)
