Where Are There The Most Coronavirus Cases Outside China? On A Quarantined Cruise Ship Docked Off Japan
The number of people with coronavirus on a cruise ship in the port of Yokohama nearly doubled to 135 on Monday. Some experts said that keeping all of the passengers and crew members on board could exacerbate the rate of infection. “Similar to the situation in Wuhan, but at a smaller scale, by quarantining the ship, the crew members are being forced to stay together, which increases the likelihood of transmission,” said John B. Lynch, of the University of Washington. “We have to remember that quarantines protect those outside the quarantine, not those within.”
The New York Times:
Cruise Ship’s Coronavirus Outbreak Leaves Crew Nowhere To Hide
In the passenger decks of the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, more than 2,500 travelers are carefully isolated. Meals are delivered to their cabins. They have permission to walk on deck, six feet apart, for a few minutes a day. Down below, more than 1,000 crew members live and work elbow-to-elbow, preparing the passengers’ dishes and eating simple buffet-style meals together, with as many as four sharing a bathroom — and sharing the risk of possible infection from the coronavirus. (Dooley and Rich, 2/10)
The Washington Post:
Cruise Ship Coronavirus Infections Double, Exceeding The Total For Any Country But China
Karey Maniscalco, a real estate agent from St. George, Utah, who is traveling on the ship with her husband, said tensions increased as news spread of the sharp jump in the number of people on the ship with the respiratory infection. It “caused us to be a bit rattled and concerned,” Maniscalco said in a phone call from her room Monday. The spike in infections also triggered criticism of Japan’s handling of the outbreak, which was traced to a man from Hong Kong who had spent five days aboard the ship and was diagnosed with the infection Feb. 1. While a quarantine may have been a reasonable strategy when it was imposed Feb. 5, experts said it is no longer effective and perhaps dangerous. (Denyer, Johnson, Sampson and Bernstein, 2/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Cases On Cruise Ship Climb To 135
he outbreak on the ship, docked in Yokohama south of Tokyo, has emerged as one of the most difficult virus challenges outside of China, with passengers on board increasingly anxious as the news each day gets worse. Officials have attributed the outbreak to a passenger who got off the cruise in Hong Kong and was later diagnosed with the virus. But it isn’t known how so many people got infected and whether there could be another source of infection. (Bhattacharya and Inada, 2/10)
CNN:
Cruise Ship Docked In New Jersey Sets Sail After Family Tests Negative In Coronavirus Scare
A cruise ship finally set sail Monday from Bayonne, New Jersey, after a coronavirus scare had kept it docked -- and its passengers waiting -- for days. The ship was supposed to leave for a Caribbean voyage Saturday night, but was delayed after passengers still aboard the ship from a previous became ill when it returned Friday. The Anthem of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, left port at 3 p.m. Monday, and headed for Bermuda, according to a revised itinerary from the cruise line. The four passengers evaluated for coronavirus all tested negative and were discharged from the hospital, according to a statement from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. (Holcombe, 2/10)
Bloomberg:
What Happens When A Virus Runs Rampant On A Cruise Ship
For 3,700 passengers quarantined on a cruise liner off Japan, it began as a carefree voyage. For the new coronavirus, it was an opportunity to run rampant. As the number of confirmed cases aboard the Diamond Princess nearly doubled to 135, health authorities evacuated infected travelers. The rest hunkered in their cabins, waiting to find out whether they’d come down with an illness that has killed more than 1,000 people in China and beyond. Operator Carnival Corp. stepped up efforts to disinfect the liner. (Ha, 2/10)
In other news —
The Associated Press:
Virus Stretches Limits Of Strained Public Health Systems
The virus outbreak that began in China and has spread to more than 20 countries is stretching already-strained public health systems in Asia and beyond, raising questions over whether everyone can get equal access to treatment. Authorities in Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, have been ordered to confine people suspected of having the illness in “quarantine camps" reminiscent of makeshift hospitals seen a century ago during the outbreak of Spanish flu. (Kurtenbach, 2/10)
The Washington Post:
Coronavirus Fears Force Cancellations, Precautions At Big Tech Conferences
Coronavirus has already halted countless factories in China and grounded flights to and from the country. Now it’s hitting the global conference circuit, too. Several big tech companies are pulling out of the telecom industry’s largest annual meeting in Barcelona later this month, citing worries about a virus that has killed more than 1,000 people worldwide. Many Chinese researchers are unable to attend a major artificial-intelligence gathering in New York this week, and a number of conferences in Asia have been canceled or postponed. (Whalen, 2/11)
Stat:
Biotechs Fear Coronavirus Outbreak Will Delay China-Based Research
Biotech investors and executives are growing worried that restrictions intended to contain the coronavirus epidemic in China could delay the work Chinese contract research organizations perform for American startups — particularly if those restrictions last for several months. The impact on biotechs so far appears to be minor, in part because the restrictions — including travel bans and workplace closures — coincided with the Lunar New Year, when many businesses expect employees to be away from work anyway. But the longer restrictions are in place, the more likely that crucial experiments and drug development work will be affected, industry insiders said in interviews — and some decision-makers believe they can’t afford to wait and see. (Sheridan, 2/11)
