Diamond Princess coronavirus count hits 63, rooms cleaning OK’d

In other key developments, the Japanese government has provided additional medical support for the ship, and public health authorities have approved Princess Cruises’ protocol to service rooms. As well, Diamond Princess was cleared to go out to sea for a stint.

The two newly confirmed cases include a US citizen and a Chinese citizen. Both were disembarked for care at a local hospital.

Additional face masks and personnel

‘We are very appreciative of the Japanese government for moving proactively to provide the ship additional medical professionals and 7,000 protective face masks. Those resources include 16 doctors plus 12 additional personnel which includes teams of nurses and clerks,’ Princess said on Saturday.

Out to sea

The ship went out to sea at 9 a.m. local time Saturday to perform normal marine operations and is expected to be away approximately 24 hours.

Since Diamond Princess was quarantined upon arrival at Yokohama Feb. 3, passengers have been mostly confined to their rooms, with meals delivered. Over time, people have been allowed outside for scheduled fresh air periods. More television and movie programming was added, and cruise activities packaged games, puzzles and trivia for delivery to staterooms. 

All of this has been documented by quarantined passengers, in forums ranging from Twitter to the front page of The New York Times. Princess is also providing free Internet and phone service.

But, until now, stateroom cleaning had been suspended to keep the virus from spreading.

Room cleaning and linen changes

That is changing, since public health authorities approved the ship’s protocol to service rooms. The service will take place while passengers are out during their scheduled fresh air periods. Two crew members will conduct a thorough cleaning of each room, including fresh linens and towels.

Quarantine set to end Feb. 19

As earlier reported, the Japan Ministry of Health has said the quarantine will end Feb. 19, unless there are unforeseen developments. 

Diamond Princess was carrying 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew from a range of nationalities when it arrived at Yokohama on Monday. About half the passengers are from Japan.

Local health authorities undertook screenings and ordered the quarantine after a man on the prior sailing was later diagnosed with coronavirus at a Hong Kong hospital.