A fourth person has died in Japan after becoming ill aboard a cruise ship stricken by COVID-19, local media reported yesterday, as the government unveiled a new policy to tackle the outbreak.
Nearly 700 people on board the Diamond Princess, which spent two weeks quarantined off Japan, have tested positive for the virus.
Four people who were hospitalized after being taken off the ship have died, the latest a man in his 80s, local media reported.
The Yomiuri Shimbun said the man had tested positive for the virus and died of pneumonia.
Three others, all Japanese, have so far died after becoming sick on the ship.
Two were confirmed to have the virus, while the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare declined to comment on the diagnosis of the third.
Japan has come under increasing pressure over its handling of the ship, particularly after it emerged that some passengers allowed to disembark after testing negative were subsequently diagnosed with the virus.
Some of the disembarking passengers were not even tested during the quarantine period, the ministry has said.
Several health officials working on the ship have contracted the virus, but authorities have defended a policy of not uniformly testing those working on the boat.
“We are aware of the risks of them getting infected when they take off a mask or gloves, so we will have thorough measures to prevent infections under these circumstances,” Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato said, adding that no change in policy was planned.
Many nations have evacuated their citizens from the ship, with 450 Filipinos due to be flown home yesterday on two chartered flights.
Another 81 who have tested positive for the virus are to stay in Japan.
As the situation on the ship has come under scrutiny, infections have spiked inside Japan, with 156 cases, including one death.
“As we see patients whose infection routes are not clear in several regions in Japan, now is a crucial phase to prevent the spread of infection from happening on a huge scale,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
“It is important that we contain the spread in Japan by slowing the speed of the increase of new patients as much as possible,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a Cabinet meeting on the outbreak. “To this end, we shall thoroughly strengthen measures against patient clusters.”
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