Thursday, 28 Mar 2024

Coronavirus crisis: Japan under fire over ‘incubator’ Diamond Princess as British man dies

The man, who has not been named, is the first Briton to die from the deadly coronavirus. He was one of 78 passengers held in lockdown off the coast of Yokohama as they were quarantined on the cruise liner for 14 days.

Japan is now under pressure after it was criticised for how it handled the quarantine, which failed to prevent the virus from spreading.

Scientists said passengers should have been removed from the vessel from the beginning.

Experts said boats are “notorious places for being like incubator for viruses”.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the New York University School of Medicine said: “Boats are notorious places for being incubators for viruses.

“It’s only morally justified to keep people on the boat if there are no other options.”

Dr Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said if passengers had been quarantined on land, there would have been more space for better infection control procedures.

He added: “I suspect people were not as isolated from other people as we would have thought.

“It’s difficult to enforce a quarantine in a ship environment and I’m absolutely sure there were some passengers who think they’re not going to let anyone tell them what they can and cannot do.”

The coronavirus was initially discovered on board the cruise liner after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who had been on the ship fell ill.

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He boarded the cruise on January 20 in Yokohama, Japan, and disembarked five days later.

Officials initially began to screen 300 out of the 3,700 passengers on board, leaving the rest in quarantine.

The ship has now been hit by 705 cases of coronavirus, with five confirmed fatalities.

Japan’s Health Ministry confirmed this afternoon the male Briton had died.

He had been taken to Yokohoma for treatment after being diagnosed on the ship.

The Foreign Office has confirmed it was investigating the report

Health Minister Jo Churchill has said she was aware a British man who had been on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship was “very poorly”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “The Foreign Office are supporting the family of a British man who has been very poorly and was a passenger on board the Diamond Princess.

“I haven’t had confirmation, because obviously I’m on the telephone to you, but I was aware there was a gentleman who was very, very poorly.

“I’m sure like me your thoughts and sympathies go out to his family at this time.”

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