An Australia medical expert is heading to Japan to join an international team gathering information about the coronavirus and its spread among passengers on board the Diamond Princessand, including the 200 Australians, quarantined .
US citizens on the cruise ship who are confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus will not be taken back to the United States on a planned charter flight after all, a Japanese government official said.
The US said earlier it would send an aircraft to Japan to bring back all US passengers. The Diamond Princess is the most concentrated outbreak of coronavirus infections outside China.
The Australian Embassy in Tokyo has emailed citizens aboard the Diamond Princess to update them on options being considered to assist them.
The news comes as the total number infected by the virus in China alone rose to more than 66,000 on Saturday, with the number of deaths passing 1500.
A total of 1700 Chinese health workers who have been infected, with six deaths.
And the virus, whose global spread appears to be accelerating, claimed the life of an 80-year-old Chinese man who succumbed to the virus in a Paris hospital. He was one of 11 identified cases in France.
Until the death in France, there had been only three deaths outside China, with one in Japan, one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
The Australian government last week extended the two-week travel ban from mainland China to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 for another seven days this week.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says keeping Australians safe from the virus is “absolutely paramount”, but also wants the travel ban eased as the “savage blow” to the economy and tourism industry hits home.
“The ban on passenger air travel also impacts on a range of other industries that depend on frequent air movements to shift goods, including perishable products,” Australian Chamber – Tourism Executive chair John Hart said in a statement.
“Tourism and trade would greatly benefit from even a partial lifting of the ban from provinces in China that present a much lower risk to Australians.”
Chinese authorities meanwhile are stepping up their efforts to curtail the spread of the virus, which kills about two percent of those it infects.
People returning to Beijing from extended holidays have been ordered to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine — an edict that came as hard-hit Hubei province reported more than 2,400 new cases and dese3rted streets made major cities resemble ghost towns.
State newspaper Beijing Daily said anyone who disobeys would be punished, but it was not immediately clear how that would be enforced or whether the restrictions would apply to non-residents and foreigners arriving from abroad.
“From now on, all those who have returned to Beijing should stay at home or submit to group observation for 14 days after arriving,” read the notice from Beijing’s virus prevention working group cited by the Beijing Daily.
The Maritime Unions of Australia is concerned its members are being put at risk by the arrival of container vessels from mainland China, which it says in some cases are docking in breach of the travel ban.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has raised this issue with the government and the chief medical officer, and has been assured they are aware of the situation.
“We need to be vigilant and make sure the health of Australians is the number one priority,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Perth.
No quarantined Australians at Christmas Island and Darwin have tested positive for the virus, with the first group of evacuees due to return home on Monday.
The Australian Border Force is making arrangements to transfer those quarantined on Christmas Island once they have been medically cleared.
Of the 15 coronavirus cases in Australia, six have been cleared
and the remaining nine are all stable.
The US passengers preparing to be airlifted home aboard a charter flight will be required to undergo a further quarantine period of 14 days upon arriving in the US.
Those who choose not to join the flight, they would not be able to return home “for a period of time”, officials said.
“We understand this is frustrating and an adjustment, but these measures are consistent with the careful policies we have instituted to limit the potential spread of the disease,” the passengers were informed.
It also said passengers would be screened before the flight and the US government was working with Japan so that any people with symptoms would receive proper care if they could not board the plane.
Other countries – including Australia – might follow suit and ask to bring back their own citizens from the ship before the quarantine period ends next week, a Japanese government official told reporters.
The cruise ship, owned by Carnival Corp, has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama on February 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong before it travelled to Japan was diagnosed with the virus.
It had some 3700 passengers and crew on board. Another 67 people have tested positive for the virus, Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Saturday, bringing the total to 285 cases, which includes Australian citizens.
-with AAP
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