Ten more people, including two Canadians, were sickened with a new virus aboard one of two quarantined cruise ships with some 5,400 passengers and crew aboard, health officials in Japan said Thursday.
China reported earlier 73 more deaths while the World Health Organization appealed for more funds to help countries battle the spread of the disease.
The ships in Japan and Hong Kong are caught up in a global health emergency that seems to worsen by the day.
In the port city of Yokohama, just outside Tokyo, health workers said 10 more people from the Diamond Princess were confirmed ill with the virus, in addition to 10 others who tested positive on Wednesday. The latest infections included four Japanese, two Americans, two Canadians, one New Zealander and one Taiwanese. Most were in their 60s and 70s.
They were dropped off as the ship docked and transferred to nearby hospitals for further test and treatment.
“The health and safety of our guests and crew remains our top priority,” said a statement from the cruise company. “We continue to work closely with the Japan Ministry of Health on all protocols and procedures while ensuring the comfort of our guests.”
The 3,700 people on board faced a two-week quarantine in their cabins. The ship had 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members, including 251 Canadians.
The first phase of health screening of all guests and crew onboard Diamond Princess confirmed initial 10 cases of the virus. None of those were Canadian.
More tests are pending on 171 others who had symptoms or had contact with a man who was diagnosed with the virus after leaving the ship in Hong Kong, the Health Ministry said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says the Canadian mission in Tokyo has been in touch with the Canadian passengers on the ship to offer them consular assistance, and the government will look to the cruise line to repatriate them when the quarantine is finished.
The ship will remain under quarantine for 14 days in Yokohama, Princess Cruises says.
The cruise line says it will continue to fully co-operate with and follow the instructions of global medical authorities and the Japanese government.
It says it will also be cancelling the next two Diamond Princess cruises departing Yokohama on Feb. 4 and 12.
A second cruise ship, with 3,600 people aboard, was docked in Hong Kong and was also being screened after three passengers on a previous voyage were diagnosed with the virus. The territory’s beleaguered leader, Carrie Lam, announced that two terminals — including one where the cruise ship is currently quarantined — will be shut down.
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday asked for US$675 million to help countries address the expected spread of the virus. He acknowledged that the sum is a lot, but told a news briefing that “it’s much less than the bill we will face if we do not invest in preparedness now.”
Tedros said that in the last 24 hours, the U.N. health agency has seen the biggest jump in cases since the start of the epidemic. According to the latest figures early Thursday, the number of confirmed cases jumped by 3,694 to 28,018, and the death toll rose to 563.
Outside mainland China, at least 240 cases have been confirmed, including two fatalities, one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
China has strongly defended its epidemic control measures and called on other nations not to go overboard in their responses. Countries “can assess the epidemic situation in an objective, fair, calm and rational manner, respect authoritative and professional WHO recommendations, understand and support China’s epidemic control efforts,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chenying said at an online news conference. “Fear is worse than any virus.”
As thousands of hospital workers in Hong Kong went on strike to demand the border with mainland China be closed completely, the city announced that all people entering from the mainland, including Hong Kong residents, must be quarantined for 14 days. Tokyo Olympics organizers, meanwhile, said they are increasingly worried about the disruption the virus is causing ahead of the games, which open in less than six months.
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To reduce the danger of exposure for health workers, Beijing is seeking to develop a robot to administer throat tests. Separately, Shanghai announced that all schools will delay reopening until at least the end of February, rather than the middle of the month as originally planned. The exact date will depend on how the outbreak develops.
As examples of anti-Asian discrimination mount, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for “international solidarity” and support for China and other countries hurt by the virus. He urged a stop to any stigmatization of innocent people.
To treat the thousands of patients in its hard-hit central region, China built a new hospital in a matter of days and converted a gymnasium, exhibition hall and cultural centre.
Patients were being moved into a 1,000-bed hospital with prefabricated wards and isolation rooms in Wuhan. A 1,500-bed hospital also specially built for virus patients is to open Thursday. The hospitals made from converted public spaces to treat patients with mild symptoms have a total of 3,400 beds, the simple cots placed in tight rows in cavernous rooms without any barriers between them.
— With files from Global News and the Canadian Press
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