Two Passengers From Quarantined Japan Cruise Ship Die After Contracting COVID-19

Two passengers from a quarantined Japanese cruise ship have died after contracting the COVID-19 virus.

The passengers who died were Japanese, an 87 year-old-male and 84-year-old female, both with underlying health conditions, infected with Coronavirus, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported citing government sources.

They were both taken off the ship last week and were being treated in hospitals. The man was taken off the ship of Feb.11 while the woman was admitted to a hospital the next day, The Guardian reported citing Japanese media.

The Diamond Princess which has the biggest cluster of Coronavirus cases outside China has been docked at Yokohama near Tokyo since Feb. 3. The cruise ship was carrying a total of 3700 people, out of which 621 people tested positive for COVID-19.

The passengers who had tested negative began disembarking from the ship after a 14-day quarantine. A group of passengers left the ship Wednesday while 500 other passengers were set to leave Thursday.

As the number of Coronavirus infection cases continue to rise, Japan’s handling of the quarantine on Diamond Princess has come under criticism.

Japanese health expert Kentaro Iwata, professor at the infectious diseases division of Japan's Kobe University, who visited the ship Wednesday, said that the situation on the ship was chaotic.

He criticised the quarantine measures on the ship in a video, which has since then gone viral on social media, saying that there were no designated “green” or “red” zones which indicated the presence of virus on board the ship.

“I felt much safer when I was in Africa [during the Ebola crisis] because you know where the virus exists and you know where the patient is. But inside the Diamond Princess you have no idea where the virus is,” he told BBC Radio Wednesday.

The video was then taken down by Iwata, claiming he was informed that the condition on the ship had improved.

On Thursday, Japan’s health minister, Katsunobu Kato told lawmakers in the parliament that officials were taking expert advice and responding to situations on a daily basis. He also defended the measures taken by officials to quarantine the ship saying all passengers had been required to stay in their cabins since Feb. 5 to contain the virus.