[D66] CDC says coronavirus survived in Princess Cruise ship cabins for up to 17 days after passengers left

[Antid Oto]

CDC says coronavirus survived in Princess Cruise ship cabins for up to 
17 days after passengers left
By
William Feuer
cnbc.com
2 min
View Original

The coronavirus survived for up to 17 days aboard the Diamond Princess 
cruise ship, living far longer on surfaces than previous research has 
shown, according to new data published Monday by the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.

The study examined the Japanese and U.S. government efforts to contain 
the COVID-19 outbreaks on the Carnival-owned Diamond Princess ship in 
Japan and the Grand Princess ship in California. Passengers and crew on 
both ships were quarantined on board after previous guests, who didn't 
have any symptoms while aboard each of the ships, tested positive for 
COVID-19 after landing ashore.

The virus "was identified on a variety of surfaces in cabins of both 
symptomatic and asymptomatic infected passengers up to 17 days after 
cabins were vacated on the Diamond Princess but before disinfection 
procedures had been conducted," the researchers wrote, adding that the 
finding doesn't necessarily mean the virus spread by surface.

"COVID-19 on cruise ships poses a risk for rapid spread of disease, 
causing outbreaks in a vulnerable population, and aggressive efforts are 
required to contain spread," the CDC wrote, reiterating its guidance to 
vulnerable populations to avoid cruises during the pandemic.

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and 
Princeton University previously found that COVID-19 can last up to three 
days on plastic and stainless steel. That study also found that the 
amount of the virus left on those surfaces decreased over time.

The new study set out to determine how "transmission occurred across 
multiple voyages of several ships." They noted that as of March 17, 
there were at least 25 cruise ship voyages with confirmed COVID-19 cases 
that were detected either during or after the cruise ended.

Almost half, 46.5%, of the infections aboard the Diamond Princess were 
asymptomatic when they were tested, partially explaining the "high 
attack rate" of the virus among passengers and crew.

The Diamond Princess and its 3,700 passengers and crew were quarantined 
at a Japanese port on Feb. 4 after a previous passenger was diagnosed 
with COVID-19 after he returned to Hong Kong. The ship quickly became 
what was at the time the largest cluster of confirmed COVID-19 cases 
outside of China with more than 800 passengers and crew eventually 
becoming infected.

Nine people died after disembarking the ship. The Japanese government 
and other nations eventually evacuated their citizens.

The researchers found that 712 of 3,711 people on the Diamond Princess, 
or 19.2% were infected by COVID-19.

The other ship included in the study, the Grand Princess, was forced to 
moor off the coast of California after two patients who had disembarked 
in California tested positive. A total of 78 cases were eventually tied 
back to the ship across two separate voyages. After several days, 
California officials brought the ship to the Port of Oakland, where 
passengers disembarked and were transported to federal quarantine 
facilities.

The Diamond Princess and Grand Princess accounted for more than 800 
total COVID-19 cases, including 10 deaths.