Cruise ship makes U-turn after passenger tests positive for Covid-19

TOKYO: A Japanese cruise ship was forced to return to Yokohama port on Saturday after a passenger tested positive for Covid-19, sparking fears of a repeat of the Diamond Princess cruise ship incident.

The infected passenger and all other passengers from the vessel Asuka II, disembarked and headed for Tokyo.

Cruise operator NYK Cruises Co and local city officials said the 720 passengers and crew tested negative one week prior to the ship’s departure on a seven-day domestic cruise.

However, the results of additional tests conducted just before boarding on Thursday and confirmed on Friday afternoon, showed that the man was positive.

According to a Kyodo News report, they said the infected passenger had felt discomfort in his throat after boarding.

He was then isolated in his cabin and only his family member travelling with him had been in close contact with him.

The Asuka II, which left Yokohama on Thursday, was originally scheduled to stop in Aomori prefecture and Hokkaido before returning to Yokohama next Wednesday.

In apologising over the incident, NYK Line president Fukashi Sakamoto said they were able to respond promptly because of lessons learnt from the Diamond Princess.

Meanwhile, Tokyo reported another 1,050 coronavirus infections on Saturday, the highest daily number since Jan 28, despite the capital being under the country’s third state of emergency since late last month.

With less than three months to go before the Olympics begin in the capital, Japanese authorities are struggling to curb the resurgence of infections in Tokyo.

The state of emergency had been declared due to the surge in infections, driven by the rapid spread of new variants of the virus.

Similar state of emergencies are also in place in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures.

The emergency until May 11, covers the Golden Week holiday period that started last Thursday.

The holiday, with five consecutive vacation days, was relatively quiet in major areas as measures against Covid-19 dissuaded many people from travelling.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has called on people to stay home as much as possible and avoid non-essential outings.