Page 10 - AHATA

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 19 February 2020
Experts ponder why cruise ship quarantine failed in Japan

By MARIA CHENG and MARI cannot do," he said. He
YAMAGUCHI suggested that if the pas-
TOKYO (AP) — As an ex- sengers had been quaran-
traordinary two-week tined on land, having more
quarantine of a cruise ship space might have allowed
ends Wednesday in Japan, for better infection control
many scientists say it was a procedures. But he ac-
failed experiment: The ship knowledged that attempt-
seemed to serve as an in- ing to quarantine more
cubator for the new virus than 3,700 people was lo-
from China instead of an gistically challenging.
isolation facility meant to Hunter said it was "a huge
prevent the worsening of disappointment" that the
an outbreak. quarantine hadn't curbed
Since the virus was identi- the spread of the virus and
fied late last year in central that it was unfortunate
China, it has sickened tens some passengers return-
of thousands of people ing to their home countries
and killed more than 1,800. would now face a second
As of Tuesday, 542 cases period of isolation.
of the virus, known as CO- "Given how the virus has
VID-19, have been identi- continued to spread, we
fied among the 3,711 quar- A bus carrying passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leaves a port in have to presume everyone
antined passengers and Yokohama, near Tokyo, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. leaving the ship is potential-
crew, making the ship the Associated Press ly infected, and therefore
site of the most infections they have to go through
outside of China. The Dia- in Japan and the govern- "Obviously the quarantine (quarantine) should not another two-week quaran-
mond Princess cruise ship is ments who are taking back hasn't worked, and this ship have worked if it had been tine period," he said. "Not to
also the only place where people will be able to fol- has now become a source done properly," she said. do so would be reckless."
health officials have seen low up those individuals in of infection," said Dr. Na- Cruise ships have some- Japanese health officials
the disease spread eas- the appropriate way," he thalie MacDermott, an out- times been struck by out- say a 14-day quarantine
ily among people beyond said. break expert at King's Col- breaks of diseases like no- on the ship is adequate,
China. Japan's health minister, Kat- lege London. rovirus, which can spread noting that all but one of
The question now is: Why? sunobu Kato, told reporters She said the exact mecha- quickly in the close quar- more than 500 Japanese
The Japanese government Tuesday that all passen- nism of the virus' spread ters of a boat and among returnees from the epicen-
has repeatedly defended gers who remained on the was unknown. Although elderly passengers with ter of the virus in China who
the effectiveness of the cruise ship have had sam- scientists believe the dis- weaker immune systems. initially tested negative
quarantine. But some ex- ples taken and that those ease is spread mostly by But MacDermott said it were found to be virus-free
perts suggest it may have who tested negative would droplets — when people would be highly unusual for at the end of their 14-day
been less than rigorous. start getting off the ves- cough or sneeze — it's pos- an entire boat to be quar- quarantine.
In a possible sign of lax sel beginning Wednesday, sible there are other ways antined. Those officials also defend-
quarantine protocols, three when their required 14-day of transmission. "They might quarantine the ed precautions taken on
Japanese health officials quarantine is scheduled to "We need to understand people affected in their the ship. About 1,000 crew
who helped in the quar- end. how the quarantine mea- rooms until they're 48 hours members were told to wear
antine checks on the ship "They all want to go home sures on board were imple- clear of symptoms, but cer- surgical masks, wash their
were also infected. as early as possible, and we mented, what the air filtra- tainly not all passengers," hands, use disinfectant
"There are sometimes envi- hope to assist them so that tion on board is like, how she said. sprays and stop operations
ronments in which disease everyone can get home the cabins are connected Some passengers on the Di- at restaurants, bars and
can spread in a more effi- smoothly," Kato said. and how waste products amond Princess described other entertainment areas
cient way," said Dr. Michael But it may not be that sim- are disposed of," MacDer- the ship as a "floating pris- after Feb. 5, when the first
Ryan, executive director of ple. U.S. health officials on mott said. on" but were allowed to group of 10 infections was
the World Health Organiza- Tuesday told Americans "There could also be an- walk on the decks every reported and the start of
tion's health emergencies who declined to come other mode of transmission day while wearing a mask the 14-day quarantine was
program. Ryan said cruise home on government- we're not familiar with," she and were told to keep their announced.
ships in particular were chartered flights over said, noting the possibility distance from others. Passengers were instructed
known to occasionally ac- the weekend that they of environmental spread "I suspect people were to stay in their cabins and
celerate spread. wouldn't be allowed back and the importance of not as isolated from other not walk around or contact
"It's an unfortunate event into the country for at least "deep-cleaning" the en- people as we would have other passengers. Those in
occurring on the ship and 14 days after they had left tire ship to prevent people thought," said Dr. Paul windowless cabins could
we trust that the authorities the Diamond Princess. from touching contaminat- Hunter, a professor of medi- go out on the deck for
ed surfaces. cine at the University of East about an hour each day.
During the 2002-2003 out- Anglia in England. He said The quarantine was largely
break of SARS, a related vi- the continued spread of for passengers because
rus, more than 300 people the virus could be due to crew members kept shar-
were infected through a compliance problems. ing double rooms and
defective sewage system "It's difficult to enforce a continued to serve guests
in a Hong Kong housing quarantine in a ship envi- by delivering food, letters,
estate. MacDermott said ronment and I'm absolutely towels and amenities, and
it was possible there was sure there were some pas- entering passenger cabins
a similar issue aboard the sengers who think they're for cleaning. Crew mem-
Diamond Princess. not going to let anyone tell bers also ate in groups in a
"There's no reason this them what they can and crew mess hall.q