The Diamond Princess a cruise ship has been quarantined in Japan this week due to an outbreak of the dreadful Coronavirus, the virus which has taken hundreds of lives and infected thousands.
Globally, approximately 28,000 people have been infected with this virus and almost 600 lives have been claimed by it and the number has been growing every day.
The quarantine was issued when an 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong was confirmed positive with the virus. After screen all the passengers 10 other cases were confirmed. Following these findings, passengers were instructed not to leave their cabins for the next 2 weeks for safety reasons.
Some stuck on the ship have detailed their experiences and surviving conditions via their social media handles. They detail how their trips changed course and activities done to survive and lighten up the atmosphere. A British man, David Abel has fast become a favourite as a result. Read his statements below
“We’re no longer on a cruise,” he said on Thursday. “All of the luxury of having a steward come into the cabin to make the bed and put chocolates on the pillow, change the towels and facecloths and clean the bathroom – those days are gone. It just ain’t happening.”
The endless supply of buffet food and drink, along with with activities, entertainment and shore visits, has abruptly dried up, replaced by what to the passengers must seem like relative austerity: one hot drink a day, no-frills meals and, according to Abel, a suspension of laundry and linen services.
About 2,666 passengers are on the cruise with about crew members, making a total of about 3711 people on the cruise. Playing board games, watching movies and an internet connection upgrade are some of the means, people aboard the ship have taken to stay occupied
The British individuals on the cruise have reached out to the British government to send a plane to pick them up as they did for the British Citizens in China seeing as the plane fares have rapidly increased since the outbreak of the virus.
