02/14/2020 - 12:29
- Clarín.com
- World
Passengers are counting the days while living a very unusual Valentine in the port of Yokohama, Japan. It is that around 3700 people, between guests and crew, are under quarantine after an outbreak of the newly named Covid-19, the coronavirus that has already claimed the lives of 1384 people worldwide, has been detected and so far He left 218 infected from the cruise. They are expected to disembark next week.
On Thursday night, guests were allowed to finish the quarantine outside the ship at special facilities provided by the Japanese Ministry of Health. The proposal focused, above all, on the most vulnerable population: individuals over 80 years of age, children under 6 years of age or those who suffered from any pre-existing condition that influenced their health status.
Foreign Ministry sources were able to confirm to Clarín that none of the other 7 Argentines disembarked and that they continue on the cruise following security measures.
Jay Swartz, the president of the cruise company had already issued statements via YouTube on Sunday, February 9, in which she reported that: "The Japanese government and the company have supplied more doctors and nurses who have already boarded the ship " Mental health and pharmacy experts will be joining soon. These resources will help and support our on-board medical team, who have been working against the clock."
While the Chief of the Medical Service on board, Dr. Grant Tarling, published a message on February 12 for the first time in which he confirmed the theory of the first contagion through a Hong Kong passenger. "Between January 20 and 25, a passenger who was on the ship and was going from Yokohama to Hong Kong was diagnosed with coronavirus upon arrival in the city at a hospital in Hong Kong on February 1 , six days after he He disembarked from the cruise ship.The man did not report any discomfort or symptoms to the ship's medical center while he was on board.As soon as we learned this from the hospital in Hong Kong, we immediately contacted the Ministry of Health of Japan who developed a plan of reply".
The doctor added that: "What we are observing clinically is that most cases have moderate symptoms that are also present in the common cold and some have no symptoms . However, we also know of a smaller group of individuals than by conditions preexisting have suffered the disease in a more severe way. "
Regarding the state of health of the 60-year-old Argentine who has been diagnosed and who is admitted to a hospital in Japan, Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that "it is evolving well."
Southeast Asian cruises: some leave and others wait
The unprecedented situation of contagion in the Diamond Princess has sounded the alarms in the countries for the rest of the cruises, which have not been allowed to dock or disembark in countries like Thailand and Vietnam for fear of contagion. However, so far it has not been proven that any of the passengers on board have the disease or present symptoms.
The Westerdam , of the Holland America Line company , who was denied entry into five countries during the last two weeks, was finally able to disembark in Cambodia, at the port of Sihanouk at 11 am on Friday according to the Bangkok Post . On the cruise there would be 5 Argentine passengers.
From the chancellery they informed Clarín that they still have no confirmed information.
After medical examinations and verifying that none of the passengers or crew showed signs of illness on board, they docked at the pier and were received by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The opposite is that of the German cruiser "AIDIvita" - from the company AIDA Cruises and that had previously made stops in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore - included a landing in northern Vietnam that was denied by the authorities,
"The authorities of (the province of) Quang Ninh have good reasons to make this decision, since it is necessary to impose drastic preventive measures against Covid-19 in order to prevent the disease from spreading through the province," explained the authorities to the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) , although he did not report that there were any sick patients on board.
María Daniela Araujo Padron
