A total of 63 passengers, including nine Americans, aboard the Japanese cruise liner the Diamond Princess have been diagnosed with coronavirus, while the rest are under quarantine.
Some passengers have called the Diamond Princess a “floating prison.”
WTOP spoke to a couple aboard the ship about the 14-day quarantine. They expressed concerns with the measure and feared that the close quarters and ventilation system in the ship would cause them to contract the virus if they had not already.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told WTOP that the best public health recommendation is for passengers and crew members to remain on board.
“The safest and best thing to do, as inconvenient as it is, is to keep them quarantined for the 14 days of the incubation period of the virus,” Fauci said.
He said there is little likelihood the coronavirus — which is spread by respiratory droplets — could make its way through a ship’s air filtration system.
Fauci said the closely monitored situation will be the best way to identify the virus if anyone does get ill.
“If indeed they do become ill, they’ll be taken off the ship and put into the appropriate care in a local hospital.”
The United States has 12 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Of those cases, 10 are people that traveled to Wuhan, China and the other two cases are spouses of infected individuals.
Fauci recommends moderate precautions to prevent respiratory diseases like the coronavirus.
“If you’re trying to prevent yourself from getting infected with a respiratory virus of any sort, wash your hands as often as you possibly can and stay out of crowded places where there are people who might be coughing and sneezing,” Fauci said.
No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in D.C., Maryland or Virginia.
