- Life in a quarantined ship is hard but people recognize the efforts of health officials
- People are being confined to 6 feet by 9 feet small cabins where they spend time by reading
- Healthy food of sandwichs, quinoa, oats, juices are given by masked officials
- Gyming and other activities are restricted to the cabins
- People are restricted from disembarkment
- Health officials trying to move small groups of people into the deck to get some fresh air.
- Confined in their cabin, people haven’t become crazy yet.
How a cruise ship trip can change into a nightmare when you are quarantined for a disease outbreak. Well, life can be very difficult on a quarantined cruise ship and this American family found out this soon. Reuters reports a family ordeal on a quarantined ship.
Let’s check it out.
A Vacation of Fun Port Calls
When American Sawyer Smith got hold of discount cruise tickets, he invited his brother and grandparents along for what they expected to be a luxurious treat, from Japan to Hong Kong and back again, full of good food and fun port calls along the way.
A Sudden Flu
They boarded on Jan. 20 and all went well until a passenger, who had disembarked in Hong Kong, was diagnosed with the coronavirus, and their ship, the Diamond Princess, was locked down in quarantine just off Yokohama, the port south of Tokyo from where the tour had started.
A Day in A Tiny Cabin
Now Sawyer, 25, his brother and their grandparents, Clyde and Renee, both 80, are spending their second full day in a cabin that, as Renee told Reuters by phone from the ship, is tiny.
“We don’t have a window, there are four of us – and only one chair,” she said.
About 3,700 people on the Diamond Princess face quarantine for at least two weeks on the ship, which has 20 virus cases, with testing continuing.
Surviving A Tour With An Infected Man
Everybody’s temperature was taken by health officials who swarmed the ship, with Clyde and Renee – who’d been on a bus tour with the infected man – given additional tests. Both proved negative.
“If they’d had symptoms we would have been more worried,” Sawyer said. Clyde’s past work, including a stint doing epidemiological work for the U.S. state of Georgia, may also have contributed to their equanimity.
Passing Time With Reading
Clyde and Renee have been spending their time reading. The family has also watched movies, including “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Aquaman.”
Doing Your Crunches in a small cabin
Sawyer, a fitness fanatic who went to the ship’s gym or pool every other day and came second in a shipboard “Sexiest Legs” contest, now does crunches and pullups in the room, which at six meters by nine doesn’t allow for a lot more.
Masked People Serving Healthy Food
Masked and gloved ship staff brought a breakfast of pastries, granola with yogurt, fruit and boiled eggs around 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, along with a menu from which they could choose later meals. Wednesday they had mostly sandwiches.
The Virus Death Toll
The death toll from the virus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, jumped by 73 to 563 in China, with more than 28,000 confirmed infections there.
Appreciating Healthcare Officials
Sawyer’s family said they appreciated the efforts health officials were making to contain the virus and that the ship’s crew was taking good care of them, although Renee spoke wistfully of the “Hungarian Rhapsody Trio” that had played live several times a day.
Sawyer said cruise officials were negotiating to see if small groups could be taken on deck for air.
Not Crazy Yet
“It’s not really at the point where we’re getting stir-crazy,” Sawyer said. “If they keep us in the rooms for four to five days, it might be a little different.”
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Source: Reuters
