At least 34 crew members aboard a cruise ship docked in the Nagasaki have tested positive for COVID-19, local authorities said yesterday.
The Costa Atlantica first arrived in Nagasaki in January to undergo repairs, with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga saying about 600 crew were on board.
Over the weekend, the ship’s operator contacted local authorities seeking help to test suspected cases on board.
An initial four tests carried out on the ship revealed a first infection on Monday, with additional testing among 57 crew finding a total of 34 cases by yesterday.
“Many infections have been confirmed on the ship,” Nagasaki Governor Hodo Nakamura told reporters. “We hope that they will be able to go home in full health as soon as possible. We are asking the national government for help.”
Nakamura said those infected and other crew remain on the vessel, adding that its Italian operator has told local officials that crew members are self-isolating.
However, at least 130 are on duty to maintain the ship’s basic functions, Nagasaki officials said.
Japanese officials have not yet been on board, with testing carried out by medical personnel among the ship’s crew using kits supplied by local medical facilities.
More planning time, equipment and trained personnel were required before they could board the ship, officials said.
Nagasaki officials said no one on board was believed to be in serious condition so far.
Some are believed to have moved around inside Nagasaki in recent weeks, including those returned home and new crews joining the ship.
“We have not yet decided exactly how many and how we will administer PCR tests [to detect the infections],” said Katsumi Nakata, head of the regional government’s health and welfare department. “We have to be careful and do it gradually. We have to be fully protected [to take samples from crew] when we have so many people.”
Motoi Suzuki of Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said it was “unrealistic” to test the entire crew at once and called for calm.
In other developments, a care home for infants yesterday said it had found eight cases of COVID-19 among its children.
One staff member tested positive for the virus on April 16, and tests were subsequently conducted on its 29 children, said a spokeswoman at Saiseikai Central Hospital, which runs the institution.
None of the eight children were showing major symptoms, such as fever, but they had been hospitalized, she said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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