66 more people with coronavirus on one cruise ship. Another ship finds a place to dock
Another 66 people with coronavirus have been found on Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess, the cruise line announced Monday, bringing the total number of cases from the ship to 130.
The Diamond Princess remains under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan, until Feb. 19. The World Health Organization says passengers are being asked to stay in their cabins and wear a mask when it’s necessary to leave the room.
Through a public relations firm hired by their son, Gay Courter and Phil Courter of Crystal River, Florida, say their health is fine so far, but there’s concern about getting the virus the longer they’re kept on the ship.
“We are talking about our mortality and what our chances are of getting the virus,” Gay Courter said. “Our biggest fear right now, besides getting sick, is that we will be separated if one of us gets ill.”
Of the 66 new cases, 11 people are from the United States. Otherwise, 45 passengers are from Japan, four are from Australia, three are from the Philippines and one each from Canada, England and the Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Holland America announced it has found a port that’ll accept passengers from the Westerdam, which was in Hong Kong Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 and scheduled to end its voyage on Thursday in Shanghai, China. Instead, the cruise line announced Sunday, the Westerdam will end this cruise in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.
All passengers will be released there for flights home. They’ll also get a total refund for this cruise and a 100% credit for a future cruise.
The WHO’s most recent situation report on 2019-nCoV, issued Monday, puts the number of confirmed cases at 40,554 worldwide in 25 countries with 910 deaths. Of those numbers, China accounts for 40,235 cases and 909 deaths. No new countries have reported cases.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 12:08 PM.
