Coronavirus infects more people on Diamond Princess cruise ship, health expert warns it’s too late to stop the bug

Sixty new cases of the deadly coronavirus have been confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship where 230 Australians are trapped on board, as they told of their desperation to get out of their rooms. The wave of new infections brings the total number of affected passengers and crew to 130. It is not yet clear if any Australians are among the new confirmed cases. It comes after Japan’s Health Minister said he was considering a plan to test everyone on board. The death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 900 in mainland China, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be stabilising. With 91 more people dying — most in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak — the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to official figures. The latest data came after the WHO said the last four days had seen “some stabilising” in Hubei, but warned the figures can still “shoot up”. A WHO “international expert mission” left late Sunday for China, the agency’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter. The mission is led by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies. At least 39,800 people in China have now been infected by the virus, believed to have emerged late last year in Hubei’s capital Wuhan, where residents are struggling to get daily supplies. The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down whole cities as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis – especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus. And its spread can no longer be contained after five million people escaped the Wuhan lockdown, the biggest quarantine event in history, an expert has warned. “It’s definitely too late,” Jin Dong-Yan, a molecular virologist at Hong Kong University’s School of Biomedical Sciences, said. “Five million out. That’s a big challenge. Many of them may not come back to Wuhan but hang around somewhere else.” Jin said that officials need to find a way to locate travellers who have left Wuhan. “To control this outbreak, we have to deal with this,” he said. “On one hand, we need to identify them. On the other hand, we need to address the issue of stigma and discrimination.” The New York Post reports that an analysis of travel patterns using map location from a Chinese map app revealed that trips from Wuhan between January 10-24 were consistent with the early spread of the virus. The majority of confirmed cases outside of the Hubei province, which contains Wuhan, were in other central provinces — such as Henan, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi, which were the destinations of 14 per cent of trips from the virus epicentre. Hundreds of Australians evacuated from the coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan are now in quarantine at a former workers village outside Darwin. Several of the 266 travellers gave a thumbs up from inside buses that took them on the 30km trip from Darwin’s RAAF base to the Manigurr-Ma work camp at Howard Springs for the next two weeks. Another 230 Australians are trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise ship where seven Australians are among 70 passengers who now have the virus. Speaking with Alan Jones on 2GB radio today, passengers Vicki Presland and Chris Peck confirmed they had been cabin-bound since February 5 and had to self-check their temperatures to ensure they had not fallen victim to the deadly coronavirus. “They’ve given everybody a thermometer and we have to self-check ourselves everyday,” Ms Presland said, adding passengers were told they would be confined until February 19. “Don’t make it any longer,” Mr Peck said. “We’re starting to go crazy now. We’re locked together. “Noone has entered the cabin since last Tuesday (February 4) and we’re very much under the control of the Japanese health. “We did get a message yesterday (Sunday) saying they’ve now approved a washing method to swap out towels and sheets. It’s a very steep learning curve for everybody.” The couple, on what was supposed to be a holiday with friends, had just moved from Sydney to the a farm near Port Macquarie. “They missed us on rotation (where passengers are able to get out of their cabins to walk around),” Ms Presland said. “We’re hoping today or tomorrow we can have a walk around.” Another passenger, who only identified as Vera while speaking with Jones, said being cabin bound with her husband had made them “more ancy” toward one another. The couple are on board with their children, who are in different cabins. “Being cooped up is one thing but not knowing some of the things and then finding out there are more people being affected is always on our minds,” she said. “We got to go outside yesterday (Sunday) and if somebody was coughing everybody was watching.” “We’ve been hearing rumours the date (of release) will be resett if more cases of passengers fall positive to the virus.” WHO will lead an international team of experts to China this week to investigate the outbreak, said the director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, whose support for China’s handling of the outbreak has divided opinion. “They identified the pathogen and shared the sequence immediately,” he said. “They quarantined huge cities such as Wuhan. Can’t you appreciate that? They should be thanked for hammering the epicentre. They are actually protecting the rest of the world.” Yet Chinese authorities, who now refer to the disease officially as “novel coronavirus pneumonia,” (or NCP) are struggling to build enough health care facilities in Wuhan to treat the infected. China faces a crucial test beginning Monday as labourers from across the country trickle back to work in major cities that have been effectively emptied and shut down since the Lunar New Year in late January. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned people not to assume any further evacuation flights would be possible, either from Wuhan or mainland China. Australia has so far had 15 confirmed coronavirus cases: five in Queensland, four each in NSW and Victoria and two in South Australia. The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down whole cities as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis — especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus. With much of the country still not back at work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, cities including financial hub Shanghai ordered residents to wear masks in public. Michael Ryan, head of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said the “stable period” of the outbreak “may reflect the impact of the control measures.” NSW SCIENTISTS GROW DEADLY VIRUS Health experts in NSW are hopeful their success in growing the coronavirus from infected patients will help global efforts to develop a vaccine for the virus. NSW Health pathology director Professor Dominic Dwyer said the team of 10 scientists and pathologists isolated the live virus from patients and then sequenced it at Westmead Hospital. “Our tests are working well and we can also make a contribution in understanding how the virus is changing around the world,” he said. “By having an isolate we can help other laboratories in NSW and elsewhere to develop the right tests and potentially can help vaccine manufacturers by providing viruses they can work on to hopefully eventually develop a vaccine.” Of the four confirmed cases in NSW, one patient - a 43-year-old man - remains in Westmead Hospital with scientists being able to gather regular samples from the man for their research. Prof Dwyer hopes the samples will help scientists understand why some coronavirus patients get more sick and develop a severe lung illness while most patients have a mild sickness. NSW’s breakthrough follows the same discovery by researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne who were the first scientists outside China to recreate the virus. The genetic sequences will go into a global bank run by the World Health Organisation to help improve the detection and confirmation of cases and to support the development of an effective treatment and vaccine. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard described it as an “incredible” result which he hopes will help the WHO. Mr Hazzard said 14,500 people have been screened for coronavirus at Sydney airport since February 2 with 57 showing symptoms that needed further testing. All were cleared. NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant insisted it’s safe to be out and about and that she had “no qualms” walking around by herself or with her family. STRANDED PASSENGERS LET OFF CRUISE SHIP Thousands of people stranded aboard a cruise ship in Hong Kong for five days were allowed to disembark on Sunday after passengers and crew tested negative for the coronavirus. Some 3600 passengers and crew on the World Dream ship were quarantined amid fears some staff could have contracted the virus on a previous voyage. Health authorities in the Asian financial hub said the crew and a similar number of passengers had been released from a quarantine imposed because of fears some staff could have contracted the deadly virus on a previous voyage and passed it on. The World Dream carried three Chinese passengers to Vietnam between January 19 and 24 who were later found to be infected with the SARS-like coronavirus. First found in the city of Wuhan in central China last December, the virus has infected more than 37,000 people on the Chinese mainland and at least 26 in Hong Kong. The passengers and crew isolated on the vessel had been expecting to stay aboard until Tuesday after Hong Kong authorities said testing would take at least four days. But chief port health officer Leung Yiu-hong said “all tests have results this afternoon and are all negative”. He added that passenger testing was deemed unnecessary because they were at relatively low risk. All 3600 on-board will not be required to self-quarantine after leaving. As he left the ship, passenger Rocky Chan said quarantine conditions had been “OK”, though his time on board had caused him a few problems. “My job was somewhat affected due to the time I had to spend here,” he said, but added that a letter he received from the Department of Health should smooth out any issues. Vice-president of marketing at Dream Cruises, Phoebe Yip Ching-man said the company arranged for dozens of buses to take passengers into the city, while free hotel rooms were booked for the more than 100 foreign passport holders on board who needed them. Hong Kong on the weekend began enforcing a 14-day quarantine period on all people arriving from mainland China in a fresh bid to curb the spread of the virus. The city’s health minister said 468 people had so far been ordered to stay at home, in hotel rooms or at a government quarantine camp since the policy took effect. MORE CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS DIAGNOSED Six more people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan are found to have the new coronavirus, the government said on Sunday, bringing the number who have tested positive on board to 70. The figure includes at least seven Australians. Test results are still coming in as passengers on the Diamond Princess face a two-week quarantine against the virus. The ambulances lined up to ferry those affected to medical facilities over the weekend also carried nine people with medical conditions unrelated to coronavirus to hospitals. In an announcement to the approximately 3600 passengers and crew, the captain of the Diamond Princess said more doctors and medical staff had come aboard to help with further testing. Australian passengers trapped on the ship are in a state of limbo as confusion surrounds the coronavirus lockdown period being enforced by Japanese health authorities. “It’s a circus. We’re in a total bind,” Banora Point retiree Ellis Vincent, 76, said. “We are actually trapped between hell and high water” he said. Mr Vincent’s immediate concern is for his wife Kimberly, 73, who had just one day left of medication for a life-threatening condition. Mrs Vincent reached out to the Australian Embassy for help. On Saturday night, she finally obtained it after a Japanese Coast Guard helicopter landed on the ship. “They will be evacuating very sick people or corpses soon,” she warned over the delays. He added the luxury liner had taken delivery of 600 pre-sorted medicine packages for distribution. The Diamond Princess is docked at Yokohama, near Tokyo, and subject to a two-week quarantine order that is expected to end on February 19. It is at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak that started with a positive test of an 80-year-old man who disembarked in Hong Kong a few days into the cruise. Many of the passengers are elderly and there are 56 nationalities represented on-board, including 223 Australians. Japanese broadcaster NHK is reporting dozens more people have provided samples for testing. Everyone on board has a thermometer for daily self-testing, and they are required to notify ship staff if they have a fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius. The Australian Embassy in Tokyo reached out to the Australian passengers over the weekend in an email that acknowledged “we cannot imagine how difficult and frustrating this experience must be”. The email stated no decisions had been made about evacuating Australians from Japan. It described disembarkation and returning procedures as “an evolving situation” for which it could offer no clear advice, and went on to address concerns about an extended quarantine period as another area for which it had no advice. Its original manifest for a two-week cruise which set off from Yokohama on January 20 had 2666 passengers, including 223 Australians, and 1.045 crew. Mr Vincent, a retired airline freight executive, said while medication distribution remained a key concern, he and his wife do not know what to do about their airline reservations with Jetstar, nor do they know when they will be allowed off the ship. “We can’t make any plans,” he said. “We’re just living day to day and hoping the news gets better.” Mr Vincent said the operator of the Diamond Princess, Carnival Cruises, was improving entertainment options, with the addition of extra movie and television channels. “There’s plenty to watch,” he said, adding food service had improved and clean linen was available. “They are doing what they can” to make the situation bearable, he said. Aside from infections on board the ship, Japan has reported 26 cases. The Diamond Princess was quarantined after a former passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong last month was diagnosed with the virus. There were more than 3700 passengers and crew on the ship when it arrived off Japan’s coast last week. Dozens have been taken to hospital and around 3600 people, many of them elderly, were still on board on Sunday. It was not clear whether Japanese authorities would conduct tests on all of them. The ship docked in Yokohama on Sunday to resupply for a quarantine that could last until February 19. Local reports said Japan’s health authorities brought urgently needed drugs and other medical supplies to some 500 people. About 100 said they had a fever or felt unwell, according to the reports. Passengers on the ship have been asked to stay inside their cabins to prevent new infections with some expressing confusion and frustration. Television footage has shown a Japanese flag hung on a balcony with the message: “Drug shortage is serious.” AUSSIE GIRL CLEARED AS WAIT CONTINUES Meanwhile, the young girl believed to have symptoms of the virus on Christmas Island has tested negative for the infection, Australia’s chief medical officer has confirmed. Professor Brendan Murphy said there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus on the isle at present, including the young girl who had fallen ill in quarantine. She is one of about 300 evacuees on Christmas Island. Wearing face masks and blue protective gowns, evacuees underwent medical checks at the Darwin RAAF Base before being bussed to the Manigurr-ma workers’ village at Howard Springs, about 30km south of Darwin. There were 77 children among the evacuees, including 11 infants, and one “less-than-able” 90-year-old man. Eight on board were students from the Pacific Islands who were allowed to board the flight on humanitarian grounds. The evacuees have been separated into four groups and will be able to use the village’s extensive facilities – which include a swimming pool, basketball court and cinema – on a rotational basis. Professor Murphy said the screening was in addition to the evacuees already being checked three times – once in China and twice on the flight from Wuhan. The group will undergo a fifth check upon arrival to the facility. “I want to again reassure the community around the Howard Springs facility in Darwin that I have personally inspected it and I am absolutely confident that all precautions have been taken to ensure that there is no risk to the community,” Professor Murphy said. “We know that these people who have been quarantined there are actually well at the moment and there is a very large barrier between where they will be and the rest of the community. “Anyone who develops the virus will be immediately transported to Darwin Hospital and properly quarantine. That is the current situation at the moment.” Professor Murphy said there were no current plans for any further assisted departure flights out of China. “The Department of Foreign Affairs is in contact with people on the ground in Wuhan and we have certainly brought off the people at greatest risk,” he said. “They will review that situation and if there were any further flights, there is more capacity at Howard Springs, and Christmas Island also may become vacant again after the quarantine of the first flight.” Professor Murphy added of the 15 cases in Australia, three have been discharged and the rest are in a stable condition. “There are still significant potential for further infection but it shows that our public health measures so far have been very effective,” he said. SECOND EVACUEE FLIGHT FROM WUHAN LANDS More than 200 Australians landed in Darwin after being flown out of the coronavirus affected city of Wuhan about 11:50am local time on Sunday (1:20pm AEST). The village is the second quarantine site set up by the Federal Government after 276 evacuees were flown to Christmas Island last week. The plane’s marked the end of a long ordeal for the Australian citizens and permanent residents, who had waited more than 24 hours for Chinese authorities to clear them for departure from Wuhan. They had first been told to head to Wuhan airport on Friday but were later sent back to their accommodation after China blocked the Qantas jet sent from Sydney, forcing it to wait in Hong Kong. The Department of Foreign Affairs emailed passengers again on Saturday, telling them to be at the airport by 6pm local time to prepare for boarding. But it would be another 10 hours before the flight would take off. Passengers had their temperatures tested before boarding and had to be below 37.3C to be allowed on the plane. They have been given face masks, which they are required to change every two hours, and were told if they needed to cough they should cough into their elbow. NEW TESTING MACHINE COMING A machine will also arrive on Christmas Island on Monday allowing doctors to do the testing on site, with a two-hour turnaround. No more evacuees will be sent to Christmas Island in the short term, with a workers’ camp in the outskirts of Darwin now waiting to accept the latest group from Wuhan. DARWIN LOCALS UPSET But the move – confirmed on Friday night after it was earlier revealed by News Corp – has alarmed many nearby residents. Local MP Gerry Wood said some parents have indicated they would keep their children home from the Good Shepherd Lutheran School, which is next to the quarantine site. But Brian Mullin, whose 10-year-old son attends the school, said he was not concerned. Health authorities have been at pains to point out the virus can only be contracted through close personal contact, not through mosquitoes, and the risk to the public is extremely low. “I don’t have a problem with them going there,” he said. “They’re Australians. We should bring them back to Australia and look after them.” Mr Wood said the concerns had been caused because of a lack of consultation, which allowed misinformation about the coronavirus to spread before the official announcement was made. “There’s certainly some people concerned about it,” he said. “Some people have spoken about pulling their children out of the school.” Mr Wood said he had met with school officials and Chief Health Officer Brendan Murphy who had allayed concerns about the quarantine centre. A meeting has been planned at the school on Monday to provide parents and students with more information. Mr Wood said accurate information about the coronavirus and the evacuees had only been provided at the same time as the official announcement on Friday. “The correct information is slowly getting out there but there’s a lot of information going around that’s simply not true,” he said. He said it was important people knew the coronavirus could only be passed if people came within one metre of an infected person, and none of those coming to Darwin had any symptoms. CHINESE BANNED FROM OTHER CRUISE SHIPS The US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises has issued a statement saying: “Any guests holding a Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passport, regardless of when they were there last, will not be allowed to board our ships.” The company said the ban would be in place this month. It also said any guest or crew member travelling through China, Hong Kong or Macau less than 15 days before departure would be unable to board any of its ships. Four sick passengers aboard a Royal Caribbean ship off New Jersey were sent to a hospital out of “an abundance of caution,” the local mayor said. The company delayed boarding of the ship, Anthem of the Seas, until Saturday night (local time) while the test results came back but said none of the guests had shown signs of the virus. Another cruise ship carrying a passenger suspected of infection with coronavirus will not be allowed to dock in southern Japan, the government said. In Hong Kong, 3,600 people were confined aboard the World Dream, where eight former passengers tested positive for the virus. There are 15 Australian passengers on this ship.