Japan under fresh fire over cruise ship quarantine

February 21, 2020

Tokyo--The Japanese government came under fresh fire Thursday over its quarantine of the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship after taking severe criticism from an expert ejected from the ship.

Meanwhile, officials defended government efforts to prevent the spread of infections in the ship, which had some 3,700 passengers and crew members when it arrived at Yokohama, near Tokyo, Feb. 3.

In a recent YouTube video, Kobe University Prof. Kentaro Iwata said the inside of the ship was in a dire situation, giving an account of what he saw in the ship where he entered as a member of DMAT, or disaster medical assistance team.

He said he felt "scared from the bottom of my heart" as infection control measures there were terrible.

Iwata also said he thought that it would be no surprise if he was infected with the coronavirus while in the ship.

"Did the government do enough to prevent onboard infections?" Democratic Party for the People member Yuichi Goto told the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Thursday, referring to Iwata's remarks.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato replied that Iwata did not grasp the whole picture of the situation. Iwata "stayed inside the ship only for two hours," Kato added.

In the video, Iwata said the Diamond Princess turned into a coronavirus production machine, claiming that areas free of infections were not clearly separated from those that are not and that no specialist on infection prevention was stationed on a regular basis inside the ship.

He also said he was told to leave the ship just as he was about to propose measures to improve the situation.

On Thursday, Iwata removed the video. He said on Twitter: "I removed my YouTube clip myself since there is no need for further discussing this."

At a press conference on the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government has nothing to do with the removal of the video.

But Suga admitted that the government asked Iwata to get off the vessel as it was "inappropriate" for him to engage in activities different from those of DMAT members.

The ship quarantine was conducted in an effective way with the regular presence of experts, he said, adding that the effectiveness was confirmed at a meeting of experts Wednesday.

The Diamond Princess was placed in a 14-day quarantine by Japanese authorities early this month after a man who had disembarked from the ship in Hong Kong was confirmed to have the COVID-19 virus.

More than 600 people on board have tested positive, making the largest cluster of infected people outside China. Passengers who have tested negative were allowed to leave the ship from Wednesday.

However, Iwata criticized the disembarkation policy at a meeting of opposition lawmakers on the day. He said that the accuracy of virus tests is around 30 to 50 pct at best, and that it is not medically correct to deny the possibility of infection only based on the test results.

According to Iwate Medical University Prof. Shigeru Sakurai, who conducted an onboard survey of the ship at the request of the health ministry, no infectious disease experts were stationed in the ship on a regular basis from the beginning of the quarantine.

Sakurai, meanwhile, said area-zoning arrangements to prevent the spread of the virus were in place in the Diamond Princess.

In an unusual statement, the health ministry said countermeasures against the virus taken in the ship have been conducted under the guidance from a specialist team of the Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control.

But two government officials who did desk work in the ship have been confirmed infected.

Among foreign media outlets critical of Japan's handling of the crisis in the ship, CNN said that "serious questions remain over the effectiveness of the two-week quarantine," citing comments from Iwata.

Suga said the government will work harder to explain its efforts to people in and outside Japan. But a cabinet member said the health ministry's explanations are not easy to understand. Jiji Press