More than 300 Americans were evacuated from a contaminated cruise ship in Japan. Fourteen of them tested positive for the coronavirus and will be placed in isolation in the United States.CreditCredit...Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images

           FEBRUARY  17th   2020

By Patryk Krych | The World Daily

The Coronavirus Moves to America By Plane, and Hits Quarantine

A cruise ship named the Diamond Princess has been docked in Japan for some time now, after reports of the coronavirus on board were confirmed. As such, it’s been put into extended quarantine. Recently, however, its American passengers have made a return to the US.
Quarantined since the 3rd of February on the port of Yokohama, the Diamond Princess was host to over 3,700 passengers, and has been put under docked quarantine not dissimilar to the quarantines that used to take place on Western European ships back during the times of the bubonic plague, often lasting 40 days. In this instance, while not as deadly, the coronavirus -renamed recently to COVID-19- has been the topic of much heated moral panic and viral fear as of recent, with a cure/vaccine yet to be developed.

Of the 400 American people who’ve been quarantined on the Diamond Princess, 300 have voluntarily chosen to be repatriated, sent back to their home country via two planes. Of all these passengers, 14 have tested positive for the virus and are being kept away from all the other passengers. As well as this, all are being quarantined for a further 14 days, and are experiencing frequent tests for the virus, all according to the US State Department. “The reason for that is that the degree of transmissibility, on that cruise ship, is essentially akin to being in a hotspot," Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told US broadcaster CBS.

According to officials, one of the two planes has been taken to the US Air Force air base in California, whereas the other one has touched down in Texas.
The few Americans who’d decided to stay behind on the Diamond Princess have claimed to wanting to wait until the cruise ship’s quarantine period is over on the 19th of February, likely concerned over given protocol. Japanese officials stated that there were 454 confirmed cases on Monday, making it the official largest group of virus cases outside of China.

The Reuters news agency has reported on a Russian national, who has been noted as the first Russian citizen to have contracted the virus -judging purely by reports- seeing as the two cases previously discovered in Russia were both Chinese nationals. 

By Patryk Krych | The World Daily