Coronavirus

[Liverzeb]

For anyone due on the Seaside soon and concerned, we are on it this week and very little virus concern. Thermal screen at check in is quick, plenty of hand sanitisers. You need to fill out a form saying you have not been to China in the last 14 days and they ask you to report to the medical centre if you have symptoms.

[Southwick28]

53 minutes ago, Liverzeb said:

For anyone due on the Seaside soon and concerned, we are on it this week and very little virus concern. Thermal screen at check in is quick, plenty of hand sanitisers. You need to fill out a form saying you have not been to China in the last 14 days and they ask you to report to the medical centre if you have symptoms.

Do they check the passport as proof that you have not been in the affected areas ?

[Formula280SS]

On 2/11/2020 at 8:03 AM, Formula280SS said:

Not sure if already posted.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/coronavirus-causes-four-countries-to-reject-cruise-ship-stranded-at-sea

 

By David Aaro | Fox News

3 Hours Ago

 

Cruise ship stranded at sea amid coronavirus fears, denied help by 4 countries

 

he MS Westerdam cruise ship has been stuck at sea for nearly two weeks and will remain without a port after Thailand became the latest nation to block its entry amid possible fears of the coronavirus on Tuesday.

 

A spokesperson for the Holland America cruise line previously told Fox News the ship planned to dock at Laem Chabang on Feb. 13, but now it appears that won't be happening. Thailand's Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Facebook Tuesday that he refused permission to dock.

Some of the MS Westerdam's roughly 2,257 passengers have pleaded online about their situation to no avail. The ship has been denied entry in Thailand, Guam, the Philippines, and Japan since the ship left Hong Kong on Feb. 1

 

Definitely stressful.we have been at sea 14 days as of this Friday. We have no passengers sick in any way. Westerdam is a ship of primarily US, Australian, British cruisers with no contact with mainland China other than to land in Hong Kong and go straight to our ship. #westerdam," one user wrote.

 

Steve Muth, from Onsted Mich., told AZ Central they had been just floating around the ocean.

 

"We've been denied, essentially, every port, every country since leaving Hong Kong," he said.

 

The news comes as Carnival's Diamond Princess has seen over 130 of its 3,700 passengers infected with the virus -- which has killed over 1,000 people and infected over 40,000 globally. They remain in quarantine in the port of Yokohama.

 

Fox News reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suspected some of the passengers of the MS Westerdam have been infected, a reason for their denial at the port of Yokohama.

 

Holland America said there is no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on the vessel, which they also confirmed is not under quarantine.

 

The cruise line said that all passengers will receive a 100 percent refund for the trip and a 100 credit to their next cruise. Passengers have been given complimentary phone and internet access.

 

 

 

Wow, these passengers can't get a break.

 

USA sent planes to return 300+ passengers to US (base) and 14 "tested positive" on arrival.

 

Now, passengers quarantined another 14 days at US base.

 

That is awful.

 

14 passengers on US charter flights evacuating quarantined cruise ship test positive for coronavirus

 

https://www.wmur.com/article/trading-one-quarantine-period-for-another-americans-who-were-isolated-on-cruise-ship-land-in-us/30960666

 

5:55 AM EST Feb 17, 2020

Associated Press

 

FAIRFIELD, Calif. —

Two charter flights carrying cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at military bases in California and Texas overnight, starting the clock on a quarantine period to ensure passengers don't have the new virus that's been spreading in Asia.

 

A plane carrying American passengers touched down at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, local time. A second flight arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas around 2 1/2 hours later, early Monday.

 

Japan's Defense Minister Taro Kono had tweeted earlier that Japanese troops helped transport 340 U.S. passengers on 14 buses from Yokohama port to Tokyo's Haneda airport.

 

About 380 Americans were on the cruise ship.

 

The U.S. said it arranged the evacuation because people on the Diamond Princess were at a high risk of exposure to the virus. For the departing Americans, the evacuation cuts short a 14-day quarantine that began aboard the cruise ship Feb. 5.

 

The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees received confirmation they had the virus but were allowed to board the flight because they did not have symptoms. They were being isolated separately from other passengers on the flight, the U.S. State and Health and Human Services said in a joint statement.

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that an infected person who shows minimal symptoms could still pass the virus to someone else.

 

After arriving in the U.S., all of the passengers must go through another 14 days of quarantine at the military facilities — meaning they will have been under quarantine for a total of nearly four weeks.

 

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights of passengers. Other governments, including Canada and Hong Kong, also will require the passengers to undergo a second 14-day quarantine.

 

Japan on Monday announced another 99 infections on the Diamond Princess, raising the ship's total number of cases to 454. Overall, Japan has 419 confirmed cases of the virus, including one death. The United States has confirmed 15 cases within the country. Separately, one U.S. citizen died in China.

 

Americans Cheryl and Paul Molesky, a couple from Syracuse, New York, opted to trade one coronavirus quarantine for another, leaving the cruise ship to fly back to the U.S.

 

Cheryl Molesky said the rising number of patients on the ship factored into the decision.

 

"We are glad to be going home," Cheryl Molesky earlier told NHK TV in Japan. "It's just a little bit disappointing that we'll have to go through quarantine again, and we will probably not be as comfortable as the Diamond Princess, possibly."

 

She sent The Associated Press a video of her and her husband boarding the plane with other Americans.

 

"Well, we're exhausted, but we're on the plane and that's a good feeling. Pretty miserable wearing these masks though, and everybody had to go to the bathroom on the bus," she said.

 

Some American passengers said they would pass up the opportunity to fly to the United States because of the additional quarantine. There also was worry about being on a long flight with other passengers who may be infected or in an incubation period.

 

One of the Americans, Matthew Smith, said in a tweet Sunday that he saw a passenger with no face mask talking at close quarters with another passenger. He said he and his wife scurried away.

 

"If there are secondary infections on board, this is why," he said. "And you wanted me to get on a bus with her?"

 

He said the American health officials who visited their room was apparently surprised that the couple had decided to stay, and wished them luck.

 

"Thanks, but we're fine," Smith said he told them.

[Formula280SS]

And then there are those who chose to stay on the ship in Japan.

 

US cruise ship passenger under coronavirus quarantine refuses to evacuate Diamond Princess

 

https://www.foxnews.com/media/us-cruise-ship-passenger-under-coronavirus-quarantine-refuses-to-evacuate-diamond-princess

 

Matthew Smith explains why he turned down the opportunity to return to the U.S. on a State Department-chartered flight from Yokohama, Japan.

 

Matthew Smith, one of the nearly 400 Americans quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship for two weeks amid an outbreak of the coronavirus aboard, said on “America’s Newsroom” on Monday that he and his wife are glad they decided not to evacuate and fly back home with the group because some of those Americans tested positive for the virus shortly before boarding the planes.

 

The U.S. State Department sent two chartered planes to Japan Sunday night to evacuate the Americans who remained quarantined aboard the cruise ship, which has docked at Yokohama, a port city southwest of Tokyo.

 

Passengers and crew have been subjected to a 14-day quarantine, which was due to end Wednesday. On Monday, Japan confirmed 99 more cases of people infected by the new virus on the quarantined ship, bringing the total to 454, according to the Health Ministry, which has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew members on the ship.

 

The virus emerged in China late last year, and outside of the country, the ship has had the largest number of cases.

 

The ministry said it now has tested 1,723 people on the Diamond Princess, which had a total of about 3,700 passengers and crew members.

 

Host Ed Henry noted on Monday that 14 American passengers aboard the cruise ship quarantined in Japan tested positive for the coronavirus before they boarded the U.S. State Department chartered flights back to the U.S.

 

The State Department made the announcement on Sunday, citing tests given before the Americans boarded the planes.

 

Speaking via Skype, Smith, who refused to get on those planes, told Henry on Monday, “We didn't believe the conditions were safe to break the Japanese quarantine and put us all together in those conditions and, in fact, now having learned that they put 14 infected persons on the planes, we're all the more glad that we remained.”

 

Smith, an American lawyer, said he and his wife are “both well.”

 

“We have no symptoms of the virus, no cough, no fever and we're feeling fine,” he said.

 

He added that they both have been tested for the coronavirus.

 

“We haven't received results yet, but we have no reason to expect we're infected,” he said.

 

When asked about the conditions on the ship, Smith said, “Princess has done a wonderful job of providing the conditions for a quarantine.”

 

“We’ve been in our cabin for two weeks, but we are fed three meals a day and additional food beyond that, provided fresh linens and towels upon request, so the condition inside the cabin is really no different than it was during the cruise, it’s just there’s no option to get outside the cabin.”

 

Coronavirus cases burgeoning in China is 'biggest problem': Dr. Marc SiegelVideo

When Henry asked Smith how they are passing the time, he said, “Frankly, boredom is the least of our problems because from within a few days of the quarantine beginning, I reactivated my dormant Twitter account and my days are filled with communicating with friends and talking to journalists all over the world.

 

“So we've been anything but bored during this time of the quarantine,” he continued.

 

The quarantined passengers who were earlier found to be sick with the virus have been hospitalized in Japan.

 

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy are planning similar flights for their citizens.

[ziggyuk]

 

It has just been reported on the BBC news that David and Sally Able have tested positive to the virus.

David has posted on his page confirming this.

 

So awful what is happening on this ship.

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by ziggyuk

[renatops]

2 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

It has just been reported on the BBC news that David and Sally Able have tested positive to the virus.

David has posted on his page confirming this.

 

So awful what is happening on this ship.

 

 

Indeed awful.

 

I wonder if something is wrong with this quarantine. 

David and Sally probably have had 2 walks on the deck, but other than that fully confined in their cabins.

Yes, they could have caught the virus before the quarantine started 2 weeks ago, but is this really the case? The other day a Japanese doctor tested positive after boarding the ship. How come? Is it that easy, even with a mask?

100's of other passengers are also testing positive, do they all got it before quanrantine? 

Also, the fact that crew members are testing positive is a concern. 

Could the virus be spreading everywhere in some way (through the food, the plates, the silverware, the vents, laundry)?

If people keep testing positive even after the 2 week quarantine period, which I think it ends tomorrow, then there is definately something wrong and things are out of control. 

 

[Southwick28]

Does any one thought about the toilet in the cabin ? ( The sewage system )

[sidari]

37 minutes ago, renatops said:

 

Indeed awful.

 

I wonder if something is wrong with this quarantine. 

David and Sally probably have had 2 walks on the deck, but other than that fully confined in their cabins.

Yes, they could have caught the virus before the quarantine started 2 weeks ago, but is this really the case? The other day a Japanese doctor tested positive after boarding the ship. How come? Is it that easy, even with a mask?

100's of other passengers are also testing positive, do they all got it before quanrantine? 

Also, the fact that crew members are testing positive is a concern. 

Could the virus be spreading everywhere in some way (through the food, the plates, the silverware, the vents, laundry)?

If people keep testing positive even after the 2 week quarantine period, which I think it ends tomorrow, then there is definately something wrong and things are out of control. 

 

Not everyone on the ship has been tested! In one report David says they are not being taken to hospital but to a house where there are no phone lines and no WiFi! In the event of a flight back to the UK will they be allowed on it. No one seems to know.

[renatops]

17 minutes ago, sidari said:

Not everyone on the ship has been tested! In one report David says they are not being taken to hospital but to a house where there are no phone lines and no WiFi! In the event of a flight back to the UK will they be allowed on it. No one seems to know.

 

As part of the end of quarantine all in the ship would have to be tested twice, before release. I believe this was test #1.

Before, only those with symptoms were being tested.

[sidari]

6 minutes ago, renatops said:

 

As part of the end of quarantine all in the ship would have to be tested twice, before release. I believe this was test #1.

Before, only those with symptoms were being tested.

David and Sally did not have any symptoms.

[Liviucostin]

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22468-msc-makes-changes-to-bellissima-s-asia-repositioning.html

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, sidari said:

David and Sally did not have any symptoms.

 

Listen for Sally in the background of Vid#79.

 

Did you catch the piece about duck-taping paper over the vent in the door? 

 

 

[SirWolf]

10 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Did you catch the piece about duck-taping paper over the vent in the door? 

What is the purpose of duct-taping paper over the vent in the door ? 

[BermudaBound2014]

2 minutes ago, SirWolf said:

What is the purpose of duct-taping paper over the vent in the door ? 

 

To stop air from the hallway entering the cabin or to stop air from the cabin from entering the hallway. We don't know which. But what I find crazy is that they implemented this on day 13 of the quarantine on the ship. Clearly they are learning as time progresses. This is just awful.

[SirWolf]

1 minute ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

To stop air from the hallway entering the cabin or to stop air from the cabin from entering the hallway. We don't know which. But what I find crazy is that they implemented this on day 13 of the quarantine on the ship. Clearly they are learning as time progresses. This is just awful.

I see... was this implemented by the cruise line, doctors or officials ?  Or just a measure of the passengers in the stateroom ?

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, SirWolf said:

I see... was this implemented by the cruise line, doctors or officials ?  Or just a measure of the passengers in the stateroom ?

 

Sally heard scurrying outside her cabin. She put on a mask and opened the door to find someone on his hands and knees duck taping paper over the vent in the door. She called neighbors in cabins on each side and both told her they duck taped paper over their door vents as well.

[SirWolf]

1 minute ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Sally heard scurrying outside her cabin. She put on a mask and opened the door to find someone on his hands and knees duck taping paper over the vent in the door. She called neighbors in cabins on each side and both told her they duck taped paper over their door vents as well.

Wow, that’s drastic action... the questions remain why are they doing this now after 13 days of the quarantine?

I can not see how the virus can spread through vents in the doors since it’s transmitted by droplets and on surfaces for a limited time.

 

Spreading of COVID-19 as per CDC website:

 

“ Person-to-person spread

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)

Via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Spread from contact with infected surfaces or objects

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. “

 

[renatops]

They are probably suspecting people are getting infected while in their cabins.

They are just trying anything now to make sure the virus does not go into the cabin.

[SirWolf]

3 minutes ago, renatops said:

They are probably suspecting people are getting infected while in their cabins.

They are just trying anything now to make sure the virus does not go into the cabin.

Yes, that is probably the reason but the droplets can not get into the cabin unless somebody sneezes through the vent. I don’t understand why this is necessary other than showing excessive action so that passengers feel “safe”.

 

[sidari]

BB ... Not heard the full length of each video, I would think the air flow would be from the cabin to the hallway and not the other way around. Also have to remember that one of the Medical staff from Japan also tested positive while this has been ongoing.

I found this somewhat odd which was posted supposedly by David I believe via social media.

4pm 18th: Frankly i think this is a setup! We are NOT being taken to a hospital but a hostel. That’s where partners are sent waiting out there quarantine.
No phone, no wi-fi and no medical facilities. I really am smelling a very big rat here! Waiting for the transfer now. xx

[BermudaBound2014]

That was posted on Davids FB account and I believe it was David who posted.

 

His son is asking for a special plane to come and extract his parents.

 

This is all quite unsettling. 

[sidari]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

That was posted on Davids FB account and I believe it was David who posted.

 

His son is asking for a special plane to come and extract his parents.

 

This is all quite unsettling. 

Watched the video no 60 re the tape.

[GOLDENBONNY]

9 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

It has just been reported on the BBC news that David and Sally Able have tested positive to the virus.

David has posted on his page confirming this.

 

So awful what is happening on this ship.

 

OMG . This cruise ship is a nightmare . Looks like it's not a droplet virus at all. how all those passengers could get sick sitting in rooms? 

[Beardface]

2 minutes ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

OMG . This cruise ship is a nightmare . Looks like it's not a droplet virus at all. how all those passengers could get sick sitting in rooms? 

 

Ehh I wouldn't go that far.  Its just as likely that there were a series of employees (kitchen staff) who were infected but not caught and that's how it spread as far as it did.  In fact, that's probably the most likely situation here.

 

Either that, or the test isn't as reliable as they thought and we're seeing a lot of false positives.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Just now, Beardface said:

 

Ehh I wouldn't go that far.  Its just as likely that there were a series of employees (kitchen staff) who were infected but not caught and that's how it spread as far as it did.  In fact, that's probably the most likely situation here.

 

Either that, or the test isn't as reliable as they thought and we're seeing a lot of false positives.

We can only guess here . but for sure this nightmare will be in medical books and we will see a movie about it. I wonder what Princess planning to do with this ship after all done? And I wonder how they re planning to quarantine crew members after?