Coronavirus: Grand Princess passengers confined to cabins

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Passengers on a Princess Cruises ship off the coast of California have been confined to their cabins following the death of a guest from coronavirus after a previous cruise.

Health tests were carried out yesterday on 45 passengers and crew on board Grand Princess with the results due today (Friday).

The US Coast Guard delivered sampling kits to the ship by helicopter.

Around 140 Britons are reported to be on the ship.

A spokesperson for the line said: “Princess Cruises can confirm there are 3,533 people currently onboard Grand Princess, including 2,422 guests and 1,111 teammates. In total, they represent 54 nationalities.

“Following guidelines received today from the US Centers of Disease Control, all guests have been asked to stay in their staterooms while test results are pending.

“Guests are receiving meal deliveries in their staterooms by room service, and additional television and movie options have been added to in-room programming.

“Guests have also been provided complimentary internet service to stay in contact with their family and loved ones, and the ship’s internet bandwidth has been increased.

“Immediate family members of guests onboard Grand Princess may call the appropriate number in their region to speak with family assistance representatives: US and Canada: +1 888-358-8055, International: +1 872-201-6779.”

The company stressed that there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus on board.

The line’s Diamond Princess was quarantined in Japan in early February for 27 days. Six of its passengers – including the first Briton – died after contracting the virus.

Meanwhile, Princess Cruises is changing its cancellation policy on a temporary basis for departures up to May 31.

The revised policy is being introduced “to assist passengers in making decisions regarding their cruise holidays during the evolving worldwide coronavirus situation”.

The details vary by departure date:

April 3 or earlier: Cancel up to 72 hours before sailing to receive a future cruise credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fees.

April 4-May 31: Cancel by March 31, 2020, and receive an FCC for 100% of cancellation fees.

Meanwhile, for cruises from June 1–June 30, the final payment moves to 60 days prior to sailing from 90 days.

Passengers that choose to keep their booking for departures between March 9 and May 31 will receive the following complimentary onboard spending money:

$100 per cabin for 3-day and 4-day cruises

$150 per cabin for 5-day cruises

$200 per cabin for 6-day and longer cruise

Princess Issues RFP to Clean and Sanitize Diamond Princess

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Princess Cruises announced today a global search for a service provider with advanced, scientifically proven cleaning and disinfection capabilities to perform work onboard the Diamond Princess.

The work will begin after the guests and crew have disembarked, following the quarantine of the ship in Yokohama.

Princess is seeking proposals and estimates from the most technologically advanced service providers in this business, the company said.

The company is in action to manage an extensive out of service cleaning, disinfection and refurbishment period. The exact location of the project will be announced soon.

“Our focus continues to be on the safety and well-being of our guests and crew. We are seeking to identify the best resources to partner with to clean and disinfect the ship from bow to stern,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. “To accomplish this critically important undertaking, Princess will engage a vendor that has experience in significant cleaning and disinfection projects and experience in the use of the disinfectant agent Virox®, which is well-known to be an effective disinfectant. The expert use of personal protective equipment is also a requirement for the chosen service provider.”

The company has detailed the areas and requirements for cleaning and disinfecting which include, but are not limited to, the following locations and all surfaces:

• Staterooms: the removal and proper disposal of all towels (bath, face, hand), bed linens, mattress pads, pillows, duvets, shower curtains, and mattresses
• Carpets, draperies, and other soft furnishings
• All corridors and handrails
• Housekeeping storage and service areas
• Galleys, pantries, dishes, service ware
• Restaurant and food and beverage areas
• Entertainment areas
• Public venues (retail shops, spa, salon, fitness centre, etc.)
• Technical and machine spaces
• All crew living areas
• All deck areas and handrails
• Medical Center
• Air handling units and ventilation: Cleaning and disinfecting of air handling units including ducts, fan rooms, coils and systems will be developed by Princess’ Technical Services separately using specialist cleaning contractors.
• All marine, hotel and operations equipment
• Any other areas required after an appropriate assessment

Companies who wish to submit a proposal should be prepared to comply with detailed standards set forth by experts in health protocols and administration such as the Japanese Ministry of Health, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, in addition to the operational standards established by Princess Cruises.

Coronavirus: Americans from quarantined cruise ship flown from Japan

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Diamond Princess

Two planes carrying hundreds of US citizens from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship have left Japan, officials say.

One plane has landed at a US Air Force airbase in California, and its passengers will be isolated at military facilities for 14 days.

There were some 400 Americans onboard the Diamond Princess. The ship with some 3,700 passengers and crew have been in quarantine since 3 February.

Meanwhile, China reported a total of 2,048 new cases on Monday.

Of those new cases, 1,933 were from Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

More than 70,500 people across China have been infected by the virus. In Hubei alone, the official number of cases stands at 58,182, with 1,692 deaths. Most new cases and deaths have been reported in Wuhan, Hubei’s largest city.

In other developments:

  • In Japan, a public gathering to celebrate the birthday of new Emperor Naruhito later this week has been cancelled, due to concerns over the spread of the virus while organisers of the Tokyo marathon due to take place on 1 March are considering whether to cancel the amateur part of the race, reports say
  • In China, the National People’s Congress standing committee said it would meet next week to discuss a delay of this year’s Congress – the Communist Party’s most important annual gathering – because of the outbreak
  • At the weekend, an American woman tested positive for the virus in Malaysia after leaving a cruise liner docked off the coast of Cambodia
  • A Russian court has ordered a woman who escaped from a quarantine facility to go back and stay there until she is confirmed to be disease-free Fontanka news agency reports. Alla Ilyina has until Wednesday to return
Aircraft wait to take Americans home from Japan after they were taken off the quarantined cruise ship, Diamond Princess, 17 February 2020
Those bound for the US left from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport

What’s happening on the Diamond Princess?

The cruise ship was put in quarantine in Japan’s port of Yokohama after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was found to have the virus.

On Monday, Japanese officials said there were 99 new cases of infections on board the ship, bringing the total to 454 confirmed cases. It is the largest cluster of cases outside China.

A Russian woman who was onboard and tested positive is thought to be the first Russian national to contract the virus after the two previous cases found in Russia were Chinese nationals, Reuters news agency reports.

She will be taken to a hospital for treatment, the Russian embassy in Japan said.

At least 40 US citizens who were on board are infected and will be treated in Japan, Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told US broadcaster CBS.

The two aircraft chartered by the US government left Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in the early hours of Monday. The second flight was due to land at another base in Texas.

More than 300 passengers are being repatriated voluntarily, the US state department said. Fourteen of them were reported during transit to have tested positive for the virus and were being kept separate from the other passengers, it said.

Those entering the US will undergo a 14-day quarantine, on top of the time they have already spent confined on the ship.

“And the reason for that,” Dr Fauci added, “is that the degree of transmissibility, on that cruise ship, is essentially akin to being in a hotspot.”

Some of the Americans have declined to be evacuated, preferring to wait until the ship quarantine comes to an end on 19 February.

Passenger Matt Smith, a lawyer, said he would not want to travel on a bus to the plane with possibly infected people.

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To assist with relief efforts, Japan’s government has given away 2,000 iPhones to passengers on the ship – one for each cabin.

The smartphones were distributed so people could use an app, created by Japan’s health ministry, which links users with doctors, pharmacists and mental health counsellors. Phones registered outside of Japan are unable to access the app.

Other evacuation flights have been arranged to repatriate residents of Israel, Hong Kong and Canada. On Monday, Australia announced that it would evacuate 200 of its citizens too.