Japan confirms 39 new virus cases, 174 total on cruise ship

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s health ministry said Wednesday that 39 new cases of a virus have been confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined at a Japanese port.

The update brings the total found on the Diamond Princess to 174 cases.

The ministry also said the virus was confirmed in a official who participated in the initial quarantine checks the night the ship returned to Yokohama Port near Tokyo on Feb. 3. The quarantine official is being treated in the hospital.

The new cases bring Japan’s total to 203 people infected by the the new virus, COVID-19.



Media gather outside the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. Japan's Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the government was considering testing everyone remaining on board and crew on the Diamond Princess, which would require them to remain aboard until results were available. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)


Read more: https://apnews.com/9664873123f31b9931e87f361a9acbd4

[angrychair]

1. This should kill the cruise industry

The absolute horror show of being trapped on a quarantined cruise ship cannot be understated.

Government authorities are creating a death ship.

I will never set foot on a cruise ship. Never.

[EarthFirst]

2. In a NYT article today I learned that they had not tested everyone who was quarantined...

That the logistics and procedure is beyond the ability of medical staff to handle testing vast numbers of people on board...

“The tests themselves pose their own obstacles.

They are not simple throat swabs, but instead require cells from hard-to-reach parts of the respiratory tract.

The simplest test, a nasopharyngeal swab, “is not surgery, but it comes close,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. “It’s an aggressive medical procedure.”

The alternative requires pumping saline solution deep into the lungs.

“You could not do it on healthy people by the thousands, or just go from cabin to cabin doing it,” Dr. Schaffner said.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/world/asia/japan-coronavirus-diamond-princess.html

[Demonaut]

3. the crew and passengers must be terrified