The Diamond Princess continues to be haunted by the coronavirus and even those who have embarked from the cruise ship have been trailed by the fast-spreading disease.
4 British Evacuees Test Positive of CoVID-19
The chief medical officer for England Prof. Chris Whitty said on Sunday that four of the British and Irish passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess has been infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.
According to The Guardian, the confirmation has brought the United Kingdom's total coronavirus infection toll to 13, but the bigger problem is whether other people evacuated from the cruise ship have yet to test positive of the CoVID-19 strain.
On the other hand, health experts in the U.K. have been reiterating that the country is prepared for confirmed cases and in fact, two patients have already been discharged after recovering in Newcastle.
No Risk to British Public, Expert Says
Emeritus professor of Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nottingham Prof. Keith Neal noted that the four new cases in the U.K. do not present any potential health risks to the public at this point, BBC reported.
National Health Service (NHS) strategic incident director Prof. Keith Willett also explained that the centers where the infected patients have been transported to are well-prepared in treating the Diamond Princess passengers.
Willett added that so far, the response to additional cases in Britain has been "calm." He said the positive response is necessary to help British citizens cope effectively with the news and should also encourage them to be more careful of their health.
Other Passengers Reportedly Enraged Upon Confirmation
New reports have since emerged after the confirmation, suggesting that some passengers who flew out of Japan to the U.K. expressed anger over the confusing news regarding screening methods performed before everyone boarded the chartered flight home.
Sky News correspondent Sally Lockwood saw WhatsApp conversations between the British and Irish evacuees wherein it was revealed that there was "mounting anger" over what the passengers were told before they boarded the plane.
An evacuee wrote in one of the messages that the people who were confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus were allowed to board the plane "without the results." The said evacuee added that other passengers have been put in a situation where they may also have been infected with the CoVID-19 strain.
According to the outlet, the British Department of Health said the four new cases were confirmed after the ministry received tests results of Diamond Princess passengers from Japan on Sunday.
Hong Kong Confirms Four More Diamond Princess Infection Cases
Medical sources revealed on Sunday that four more people from Hong Kong who was on board the Diamond Princess has tested positive in preliminary results after disembarking from the ship.
193 Hong Kong passengers were flown back home from Japan but it is unclear which chartered flight the infected patients boarded, the South China Morning Post reported.
On the other hand, it was revealed earlier on Sunday that two of the confirmed patients in Hong Kong were elderly women who recently paid a trip to a North Point Buddhist worship hall. More details about the other two cases have yet to be revealed.
The new cases in Hong Kong have once again sparked debate on whether more people who boarded chartered flights back home from the Diamond Princess has contracted the disease or not.
Japan Confirms Third Diamond Princess Death
The Japanese health ministry on Sunday confirmed the third death among passengers of the Diamond Princess that disembarked from the virus-infected cruise ship.
According to USA Today, the 80-year-old Japanese man died after developing pneumonia. It was not immediately clarified whether the said passenger had coronavirus but his treatments for pneumonia came after he left the ship docked in Yokohama.
Pneumonia, the condition that killed the elderly man, is one of the illnesses a coronavirus patient can develop in the critical stages of the disease.
Some Japanese Companies Out Information Regarding Coronavirus Patients
In what could be seen as a way to help people be more careful of the places they go to, some Japanese companies and municipalities have started revealing information about where coronavirus infected people work.
Among the companies that disclosed information was Nagoya Expressway Public Corp. The company said it will shut down six tollgates after the discovery that one of the employees collecting expressway fees contracted CoVID-19.
Hokkaido governments also announced nine workers who were infected. The board of education in Ebetsu also confirmed that a part-time elementary school worker who serves lunch tested positive of the coronavirus.
