Twenty cases of the deadly coronavirus have been found on Diamond Princess as Japanese health officials continue to screen cruise passengers. They now let people outside for a bit.
Meals are already coming on a more regular schedule for the more than 2,000 passengers quarantined on the ship in Yokohama, Japan. The internet has been upgraded to a wider bandwidth. There was official approval to breathe some fresh air.
However, on the second day of a planned 2-week quarantine, there was persistent concern about the spreading virus and dread about long days ahead.
As Japanese health officials continued to screen a total of 273 passengers who were potentially exposed to the coronavirus, they said that twenty of the 102 tested so far had been found to be positive.
The first ten cases were announced on Wednesday, and the second ten on Thursday, February 6. The new cases involve 4 Japanese passengers, 2 Americans, 2 Canadians, 1 New Zealander, and 1 Taiwanese. They were removed from the cruise ship and taken to medical facilities.
Diamond Princess, with about 3,700 people onboard, arrived in Yokohama Monday night after a 2-week-long trip to Southeast Asia. They were forced to stay on the ship since an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who disembarked in January tested positive for the coronavirus.
Princess Cruises cancelled 2 other scheduled voyages on the vessel departing from Yokohama this month.
For other Diamond Princess accidents and incidents see at the ship's CruiseMinus page.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.