- 3,600 passengers quarantined onboard cruise ship were allowed to disembark after negative results.
- In another incident, 64 onboard another cruise ship was found to be affected by the virus.
- The concerned cruise ship has been placed on quarantine in the Japanese city of Yokohama for nearly a week.
According to an article published in BBC, passengers who were quarantined on a cruise ship in Hong Kong were allowed to finally disembark after negative test results.
What happened?
Around 3,600 passengers were quarantined onboard the cruise ship ‘World Dream’ due to coronavirus threat. They were quarantined onboard the vessel for four days and were allowed to disembark after they tested negative for coronavirus.
The passengers were isolated after it was found that three passengers who sailed previously had contracted the virus. Chief port health officer Leng Yiu-Hong said, “All crew members – some 1,800 people – had tested negative for coronavirus, and that everyone would be allowed to disembark without the need to self-quarantine after leaving.“
Coronavirus – severe than SARS
When compared to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003 that killed 774 people, coronavirus is turning to be much severe with 910 deaths so far.
According to regional health officials, in the Chinese province of Hubei alone, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, more than 800 people have died. More than 40,000 have been infected worldwide, the vast majority in China.
Several other ships quarantined
Moreover, several passengers were found to be infected by coronavirus onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has been in quarantine in the Japanese city of Yokohama for nearly a week. Authorities reported that 64 people had been infected on the ship, which is carrying some 3,700 passengers and crew.
In other developments
- A fourth case has been confirmed in the UK, of a person who contracted the virus in France.
- A British man tested positive in Mallorca, the second case in Spain.
- More than 200 British and foreign nationals evacuated from Wuhan arrived at RAF Brize Norton.
- Last month, WHO declared a global health emergency over the new outbreak.
- Of the two deaths reported outside China, one was in Hong Kong and the other in the Philippines.
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Source: BBCNews
