Ten people on board a cruise ship docked in Japan have tested positive for novel coronavirus, according to Japanese media reports.
A passenger on the Diamond Princess, operated by Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruises, tested positive for the virus after leaving the ship in Hong Kong on Jan. 25. That prompted officials in Japan, where the ship had later arrived, to delay the Diamond Princess. A team of quarantine officials and medical staff boarded the ship and began medical checks of everyone on board, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed health ministry official.
Japan’s health ministry said Tuesday it had confirmed that 10 other passengers were infected, according to NHK. The ministry said there were about 3,700 passengers and crew on board the ship.
Meanwhile, Carnival and other cruise lines banned travelers who have been in China recently and took other precautions to protect passengers and crew from the new coronavirus.
On Tuesday, Royal Caribbean Cruises said boarding will be denied to any individual who has traveled from, to or through mainland China or Hong Kong in the past 15 days. The ban applies to all ships in the company’s fleet, according to a statement from Royal Caribbean.
Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line also are blocking passengers who have been in mainland China, Business Insider reported. Their bans do not apply to passengers who have been in Hong Kong.
Carnival’s ban applies to travelers who have been in China in the past 15 days. Norwegian’s policy applies to people who have been in the country in the past 30 days.
In addition, all three cruise lines are taking other steps to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus on their ships worldwide.
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean Cruises has canceled eight cruises out of China through early March.
“We are closely monitoring global developments regarding the coronavirus, and we are fully focused on protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew,” the company said in its statement.
Other measures, which apply to all employees, crew members and contractors of the cruise line, include mandatory specialized health screenings for passengers who have been in contact with individuals who have been in mainland China or Hong Kong in the past 15 days and anyone with a passport from China or Hong Kong – regardless of when they were last there.
Passengers who report feeling unwell or demonstrate any flu-like symptoms will also undergo the special screening.
Anyone with a fever or low blood oxygen levels will be denied boarding, according to the company’s statement.
The company said the measures were implemented after consultation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and other public health authorities.
“These steps are intentionally conservative, and we apologize that they will inconvenience some of our guests,” the company said.
Norwegian
Norwegian Cruise Line said it has implemented additional cleaning and disinfection protocols on all ships.
Passengers leaving from Hong Kong are undergoing non-touch temperature screenings, the company said in a release. Anyone who registers a body temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will not be allowed to board.
For all passengers, Norwegian will continue standard pre-boarding health reporting and evaluation. Anyone with symptoms similar to those caused by the coronavirus may have to undergo additional screening.
Passengers who show symptoms of any respiratory illness while onboard will be subject to additional screening, the company said.
Crew members who have visited mainland China within 30 days will not be allowed on board Norwegian ships, either.
Carnival
“Although the risk to our guests and crew is low, we are closely monitoring the evolving situation with respect to coronavirus,” a Carnival Cruise Line representative told Business Insider. Carnival is implementing “enhanced screening, prevention and control measures for our ships, guests and crew,” the representative said. Business Insider reported the representative did not offer further detail about the measures.
Carnival Cruise Line is adopting the same restrictions on passengers that Princess Cruises implemented, according to the Cruise Hive.
Those precautions, according to a statement from Princess Cruises, include pre-boarding medical evaluations, including temperature checks, for anyone who has symptoms of a respiratory illness or fever.
During a cruise, passengers who show signs of any respiratory illness will undergo medical screening.
Crew members from mainland China will be delayed from joining any ship until further notice, the statement said.
Carnival said in a letter to guests that the government in the Bahamas is not allowing in any passengers who have been to China in the last 20 days, Cruise Hive reported. This affects other cruise lines beyond Carnival.
Over the weekend, the AIDA Cruises ship AIDAperla was not allowed to dock on the island of St. Lucia, MSN reported. The ship was turned away on Saturday by authorities “due to some guests with upper respiratory tract infections on board,” a spokesperson for the cruise company told Fox News.
A statement from the Department of Health and Wellness of Saint Lucia said, “The health authorities at no time suspected that there were any cases of the novel coronavirus on board the vessel, and therefore would like to categorically dismiss any false claims that may be in circulated.”
The Health Department said the decision to deny permission was taken to protect the health and safety of the island’s citizens, according to Ship Technology, a website for the shipping and cruise industries.
Officials on the island of Dominica also refused to allow the AIDAperla to enter the port on Sunday. Dominica’s Ministry of Health, Wellness and New Investment said the large number of sick passengers on board could create a public health scare.
The ship is continuing its trip to Guadeloupe.
On Thursday, the cruise ship Costa Smeralda was put on lockdown in the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a passenger was suspected to have the new coronavirus. After testing, officials confirmed the passenger, a 54-year-old woman, had the common flu, USA Today reported. The 6,000 passengers and crew were then allowed to leave the ship.
Weather Channel forecast :
Mostly cloudy with random Cytokine Storms throughout the year, avoid contact with Asian males, air quality index +500 inside airplanes or cruise ships.