Anti-epidemic for a year·Diamond Princess | Two Hong Kong people killed by epidemic ship Kong Fanyi: Should be quarantined in the morning

01 Investigation

Written by: Li Yinglin

2021-01-22 07:05

The last update date: 2021-01-22 07:05

The new crown virus on the "Diamond Princess" was out of control, causing 712 infections and 13 deaths, including two Hong Kong residents.

The Japanese government has been criticized for inadequate response.

Can Hong Kong, which is determined to develop cruise tourism in recent years, cope with similar incidents?

Kong Fanyi, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, accepted an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01". He believes that Hong Kong has experience in combating SARS and the response will be more decisive and comprehensive, such as evacuating the entire ship to land isolation as soon as possible, and rapid testing to cut off the chain of transmission .

He also believes that the "Diamond Princess" epidemic will bring many changes to cruise ship quarantine in the future.

[The third anniversary of the anti-epidemic series]

A series of reports on the first anniversary of the Diamond Princess:

Anti-epidemic for a year·Diamond Princess | The key to reorganization on the 5th day to reveal the company’s late response to the epidemic out of control (with video)

Anti-epidemic One Year·Diamond Princess | Revealing that the sea quarantine failure crew continued to work as a canteen into a hotbed (with video)

Anti-epidemic for a year·Diamond Princess | Two Hong Kong people killed by epidemic ship Kong Fanyi: Should be quarantined in the morning

▼Pictures of the first five days after the reorganization of the Diamond Princess became infected ▼

If a large-scale cruise infection occurs in Hong Kong, Kong Fanyi: the first to go ashore for isolation

"I believe we will use Junyang Village for isolation. Even if we don't use the Expo, we will let passengers disembark." When asked if the "Diamond Princess" incident occurred in Hong Kong, Kong Fanyi answered.

The decision of the Japanese government in early February 2020 to require cruise ships to isolate themselves at Yokohama Sea for 14 days has been accused of causing the spread of the epidemic, and officials have been criticized for this. Kong Fanyi believes that Hong Kong can do better.

He quoted infectious disease experts as saying that quarantining passengers in large sports venues, covered stadiums or expo halls is the best, "because the environment is more empty, the air circulation will be better, and the chance of cross-infection on the ship is relatively low."

However, he believes that in addition to quarantining the entire ship ashore, it is necessary to cooperate with rapid inspections of all personnel at the same time to prevent the epidemic.

(01 drawing)

▼Interviewed passengers provide online pictures of the passengers on board and at the time▼

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In response to the World Dream incident, Hong Kong completed quarantine in only 5 days

In fact, when the "Diamond Princess" was under quarantine at sea in Japan, another cruise ship "World Dream" also berthed at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong. Since it had been carrying people diagnosed with COVID-19, the cruise ship had more than 3,000 passengers and The crew was ordered not to go ashore and stay on the ship.

However, the response of the Hong Kong government was much faster than that of Japan. The authorities sent asymptomatic people on board to hospital and tested more than 1,800 crew members on board. All samples were negative. Passengers were able to disembark and leave on February 9. The entire process took only five days. .

Looking back on the day, Kong Fanyi believed that the response was not bad. “Because there were cases in Hong Kong at that time, our equipment and laboratory preparations were relatively sufficient.” This difference was attributed to Hong Kong’s experience in the fight against SARS in 2003. "This is very important, so we have all people wearing masks in the early days, and we have more plans for diagnosis and treatment."

When asked if the "Diamond Princess" incident occurred in Hong Kong, Kong Fanyi replied, "I believe we will use Junyang Village for isolation. Even if we don't use the Expo, we will let passengers disembark." At the same time, it is sufficient to cope with the rapid inspection of all personnel. epidemic.

(Photo by Hong Yeming)

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Tracking returning passengers to Hong Kong University team to identify 9 potential confirmed cases

The "Diamond Princess" epidemic is worth learning from around the world, and Hong Kong's medical team actually took the initiative to attack.

Kong Fanyi is a member of the team of Yuan Guoyong, Chair Professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong. After 215 Hong Kong passengers returned to Hong Kong on a government chartered flight, they continued to follow up and conduct regular tests and successfully identified nine potential confirmed cases.

In June 2020, Yuan Guoyong's team published an article in the British medical journal "Needles". Their study found that the sensitivity of throat swabs was lower than that of nasopharyngeal swabs.

Since the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan used throat swabs to test passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess that day, the test results may not be accurate enough.

However, Kong Fanyi also explained that it was not until April 2020 that a study pointed out that the detection sensitivity of throat swabs was low, so it is not appropriate to attribute the inaccurate test results to the Japanese government.

After the "Diamond Princess" arrived in Yokohama on the evening of February 3, Japan's then health and labor coordinator Katohnobu Kato responded to a question at a parliament meeting the next day, saying that he would wait for the results of the PCR inspection of the first batch of passengers before deciding how to respond.

On the 5th, 10 passengers were diagnosed on the next day, and the Japanese government immediately announced that the passengers and crew on board must be quarantined in Yokohama waters for 14 days.

(Screenshot of the live broadcast of the Japanese Diet meeting)

Kong Fanyi: Quick test equipment should be equipped on cruise ships

Kong Fanyi also predicted that after the "Diamond Princess" incident, cruise travel will have many changes. "The shipping company and the Port Health Department of the Health Protection Center must be more cautious, and in the future, cruise ships should also be equipped with infrared or remote monitoring. The body temperature of passengers is taken regularly, and passengers must fill out a health declaration form."

He also pointed out that the cruise company should ensure that there are enough masks and protective clothing on board to allow crew members to undergo quarantine if necessary, and that the ship’s clinics may also consider equipping rapid test kits. "Basically, many outpatient clinics and clinics have The rapid test kit, if equipped on board, can quickly identify potential diagnoses."

The "Diamond Princess" arrived in Yokohama at about 11 pm on February 3, 2020. Japanese health officials boarded the ship one after another. There was a broadcast requesting all passengers to return to their rooms and wait for someone to take their temperature.

(Daxa_tw Twitter picture)

Anti-epidemic for a year·Diamond Princess｜The key to reorganization on the 5th day revealed that the company’s late response caused the epidemic to get out of control

Anti-epidemic for a year, Diamond Princess | Revealing that the sea quarantine failure crew continued to work as a canteen into a hotbed

[Wuhan Pneumonia] Uncle Wu is diagnosed for the first time in response to the Diamond Princess’s allegations of spreading poison: it may not be my business

[Diamond Princess] Hong Kong residents stayed in a hospital in Japan for a month, but after returning home, they are still not afraid to travel on a cruise

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