Japan quarantines cruise ship as toll of new virus grows
Published:Wednesday | February 5, 2020 | 9:43 AM
TOKYO (AP) — Large white sheets covering them head-to-knee, people infected with a new virus were led by gloved and masked officials Wednesday off a Japanese cruise ship, while the rest of the 3,700 people on board faced a two-week quarantine in their cabins.
In Hong Kong, more than 3,600 people on another cruise ship were to be screened after it was banned by Taiwan amid growing worry about the spread of an outbreak.
The ships are caught up in a global health emergency that seems to worsen by the day.
The little-understood coronavirus has killed nearly 500 people, mostly in mainland China, but it has also spread panic and anger around the world as the cases grow.
As thousands of hospital workers in Hong Kong went on strike to demand the border with mainland China be closed completely, the city announced that all people entering from the mainland, including Hong Kong residents, must be quarantined for 14 days.
Tokyo Olympics organisers, meanwhile, said they are increasingly worried about the disruption the virus is causing ahead of the games, which open in less than six months.
China has strongly defended its epidemic control measures and called on other nations not to go overboard in their responses.
Countries “can assess the epidemic situation in an objective, fair, calm and rational manner, respect authoritative and professional WHO recommendations, understand and support China’s epidemic control efforts,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chenying said at an online news conference on Wednesday.
“Fear is worse than any virus.”
Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us @onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.