2 from coronavirus-hit cruise ship die in Japan
China reaches out to neighbor by providing a batch of COVID-19 test kits
Two passengers who were on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship have died due to the novel coronavirus, and another two officials had been infected, Japan’s health ministry said on Thursday, as the nation canceled Olympics-related events over concerns.
“An 87-year-old man who had been hospitalized on Feb 11 and an 84-year-old woman who joined him the following day have died from coronavirus infections,” a health ministry official told a news conference in Tokyo, adding that one health ministry official and another from the Cabinet Secretariat were confirmed to be infected after both had spent time working on the Diamond Princess.
Three other officials, from the health ministry and quarantine office, had previously tested positive for the virus, now named as COVID-19.
Thursday’s update brought the total confirmed cases in Japan to 711, including 621 of those who came from the Diamond Princess. Among them, 29 people were in serious condition, including one who had earlier tested negative for the virus.
The cruise ship has been quarantined since Feb 3 with initially 3,700 people on board.
On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Japan said it had donated a batch of novel coronavirus test kits to the country.
China reached out to Japan upon learning the country didn’t have enough test kits and sent the kits to Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases after coordinating with various parties, the embassy’s spokesperson said.
The virus knows no borders, and it takes joint effort by different countries to tackle the epidemic, the spokesperson said, adding China will continue to do what it can to assist and work closely with Japan to fight the virus.
Meanwhile, a batch of another 500 passengers began disembarking the Diamond Princess on Thursday while an initial batch of passengers who had tested negative and shown no symptoms had left the vessel on Wednesday, including 150 Australians and 106 Hong Kong residents who went home on chartered flights.
The virus has shown an extraordinary ability to spread and it is highly recommended that Japan promotes teleworking to avoid further infections.” Zhou Weisheng, professor at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, who did a quantitative study on the virus
Olympics under shadow
Thursday’s developments also cast a shadow on the upcoming Olympics as Tokyo canceled a gathering of local government groups for Olympics preparation and the boccia tournament, a test event for the Tokyo Paralympic Games over coronavirus concerns.
The Japan Para Championships Boccia, which is scheduled to take place on Feb 28, “has been temporarily placed on hold until a final decision can be made”, said a statement released by Tokyo 2020, the organizers of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.
Zhou Weisheng, a professor at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto who did a quantitative study comparing the virus’ spread in Central China’s Hubei province and Japan, told China Daily that the increase of cases in Japan and Hubei showed similar exponential distribution, which means there is a danger that the number of infected people in Japan will grow rapidly.
“The virus has shown an extraordinary ability to spread, and it is highly recommended that Japan promotes teleworking to avoid further infections,” Zhou said.