20/01/2021
My concerns about the increasing number of cases on the cruise liner, Diamond Princess, docked in Japan
Whilst a quarantine containment policy was enacted, it has not worked, as evidenced by the day on day increase in the number of cases.
With the failure of containment, I ask supplementary questions about additional modes of transmission in this specific and special circumstance only on this cruise liner.
Generally, we have accepted that the COVID-19 is droplet spread and not via the aerosol route.
It is good to be able to ask these questions, especially bearing in mind that in the SARS 2002 outbreak, infection did get transmitted in the hotel metropole, in Honk Kong, with the ventilation system.
I hope there will be an independent and impartial look back exercise and ascertain why containment did not work on this liner and the routes of transmission of the infection.
The other points to note are, at what stage is a line crossed, the cruise liner and other authorities agree that containment is not working and remove passengers from the liner and segregate cases from non cases, something that is best possible to undertaken on land where there is space, more facilities for segregation of cases from non cases and expertise.
