JAKARTA - Today, Thursday, February 20, two passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship were declared dead due to exposure to the corona virus or COVID-19. This will be the first death in the spread of the virus on a ship anchored in Japan.
Launching NHK, the Japanese government said the two people who died were their citizens. Those who died were an 87-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman.
Last week after the two people were caught having health problems caused by the corona virus, they were disembarked from the ship. They were then treated at a nearby hospital. Unfortunately their lives are not saved.
At present the recorded death toll in Japan due to the corona virus is now three people. While the number of cases reached 84 people.
On the cruise ship, out of 3,700 people, both passengers and crew, 621 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The handling of the Japanese government is considered not optimal
One of the infectious disease experts from Kobe University, Japan who was one of the medical assistance teams on the cruise ship through his YouTube account explained that the handling of the corona virus there was not optimal. He witnessed firsthand what happened on the cruise ship was shocking.
"The control of the corona virus infection on the cruise ship is completely inadequate," said Iwata in his video uploaded yesterday.
Iwata added that on the ship there is no separation zone between people who are free from infection and those who are potentially contaminated with the virus.
"There is no difference between the green zone which indicates freedom from infection, and the red zone which is potentially contaminated with the virus," he said.
Previously, the Diamond Princess ship had docked in the city of Yokohama since February 3. Two days later, on February 5, the ship was quarantined after receiving information that a male passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong on January 25 had contracted the virus. After being quarantined for 14 days, yesterday the Japanese government began gradually evacuating people on board.
During the quarantine period, the spread of the corona virus on the ship was increasingly unstoppable. To the extent that the number of spreads there is the second largest after Wuhan, China.
The severity of the spread of COVID-19 there has led experts to question the Japanese government's strategy of quarantining thousands of people in closed rooms.
While during the quarantine period the passengers are locked in their cabins, however, the crew members are still working as usual, sharing space, and reportedly not being given maximum body protection when interacting with passengers.
Iwata, who has been working with infectious diseases for nearly two decades, such as SARS 2003 in China and Ebola in Africa, has never been afraid of catching infections. But in the case of the Diamond Princess this is an exception to him, he admits to being scared.
"I am very scared because there is no way to know where the virus is. There are no zones to mark which ones are infected and which are not," Iwata said.
In addition, Iwata also added that there were no professionals to handle it. "Everyone in charge of everything is a bureaucrat."
There was an Indonesian citizen who contracted the COVID-19 virus on the ship
On the cruise ship gathered people from foreign countries, including Indonesia. Four of the 78 Indonesian citizens who were there were also infected with the corona virus.
President Joko Widodo said those infected had been taken to hospitals in Japan for treatment.
"Until now, I have received information that four people have tested positive for the corona virus on the Diamond cruise ship in Japan. It has been taken to a hospital in Japan. The Indonesian Embassy is always monitoring it," said Jokowi at the Ritz Carlton, Jakarta, Thursday, February 20.
Meanwhile, 74 other Indonesian citizens, said Jokowi, were still being monitored by the government through the Indonesian Embassy and Japanese authorities. Jokowi ensured that they would be needed according to World Health Organization (WHO) health procedures.
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