https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/business/coronavirus-japan-cruise-ship.html


The Diamond Princess at Daikoku Pier in Yokohama, Japan, on Monday. The cruise ship terminal has been closed to the public.

Cases of the new virus on the quarantined Diamond Princess reached 135 on Monday. Among them are at least 10 workers, and conditions below decks have raised fears of further spread.

By Ben Dooley and Motoko Rich
Feb. 10, 2020
Updated 12:55 p.m. ET

YOKOHAMA, Japan — As coronavirus cases rapidly multiply on the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, the more than 2,500 passengers on board live in effective isolation. They receive meals in their cabins. They keep an officially mandated distance of six feet from each other for the few minutes each day when they are allowed on deck for walks.

Below decks, the situation is different. There, hundreds of crew members are eating, living and working elbow to elbow as they try to keep life as comfortable as possible for those above. They line up for simple buffet meals and then sit down together to eat. Bathrooms are shared by up to four people, and cabins often by two.

These conditions have raised fears that a quarantine meant to halt the virus’s spread on board, and keep the contagion from expanding on Japan’s shores, is endangering the health and safety of the crew.

The ship, which is under a two-week quarantine in the port of Yokohama, has become host to the highest concentration of coronavirus cases outside China, the epicenter of the outbreak. The risk to crew members and passengers was dramatically reinforced on Monday as Japan’s health ministry said that an additional 65 people had tested positive for the virus, nearly doubling the total to 135.

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