Passengers started disembarking at last from a Princess Cruises ship hit by the coronavirus outbreak that has been held for 2 weeks of quarantine in Port Yokohama Japan.
Despite strict controls, hundreds tested positive for COVID-19 while onboard Diamond Princess. The 542 virus cases on the liner, among nearly 4,000 crew and passengers, were the most in any place outside of China.
According to medical experts, the ship's quarantine was a failure as Diamond Princess appears to have served as an incubator for the coronavirus, instead of an isolation facility preventing the worsening of an outbreak. Only the passengers free of infection are being repatriated. However, they face further confinement once reaching home. The number of new infections in China has been falling outside Wuhan city, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Russia temporarily banned Chinese nationals from entering the country. Authorities hospitalized hundreds as a precaution after Russian nationals returned from China. The WHO (World Health Organisation) says although many people catch only a mild form of the disease, a significant number, around 20%, become severely or critically ill.
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.