Diamond Princess cruise ship leaves Japan months after coronavirus outbreak to get last of crew home
The Diamond Princess — the cruise ship that was part of an early coronavirus outbreak — is on the move from Japan to Malaysia, Princess Cruises said.
Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali said 170 employees are currently aboard the ship bound for Port Dickson, Malaysia, “to finalize crew repatriation efforts and remain until operations begin.” Details about crew members’ nationalities and repatriation details were not immediately available.
The ship had been docked in Japan since early February, where officials attempted to quarantine its 3,700 passengers and crew for two weeks after 10 initial coronavirus cases were reported on Feb. 4.
Eventually, 712 people who had been on the ship tested positive, and 13 died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. By mid-February, it was the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China, where the pandemic is believed to have begun in December.
Around 400 American citizens were evacuated on two State Department charter flights in late February, including 14 who had tested positive. Public health experts have widely criticized the quarantine and the subsequent evacuation for worsening the outbreak.
“The quarantine process failed,” Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told the USA TODAY editorial board in February. “I’d like to sugarcoat it and try to be diplomatic about it, but it failed.”
Another coronavirus outbreak in early March on the Grand Princess and a growing global crisis led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a no-sail order for cruise ships on March 14. The no-sail order was extended and is in force through late July.
The Diamond Princess has lingered in Japan in the meantime. Kamali said the ship left Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday.
About 200 employees replaced mattresses, bedding, linens and room ornaments as part of a sanitation and refurbishment project while the ship was docked at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama Dockyard and Machinery Works.
Kamali said Japan home port cruises on the Diamond Princess have been canceled through Oct. 1. Princess earlier this month said it would cancel cruises through the end of the summer season, citing the reduction in flight schedules and the closure of cruise ship ports.
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