Japan: "New Coronavirus Cases on Cruise Ship Do Not Include Domestic Infections"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the 7th, the Japanese government announced that it will not classify the 61 people who tested positive for infection on the cruise ship "Diamond Princess," which is docked at Yokohama Port after transporting confirmed patients of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), as domestic infections in Japan.

According to NHK, Kato Katsunobu, Japan's Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, stated at a press conference that the infections on the cruise ship occurred before arriving in Japan, so they will not be classified as domestic infections. He explained this to the WHO and raised the issue, and the WHO categorized these cases as infections from "other" regions in their infection status tally.

When asked by reporters whether this was due to concerns about the increasing number of infections being considered internationally dangerous, Minister Kato denied, saying, "That is completely different." He added, "It occurred in a limited environment called a cruise ship before disembarkation," and "This is to accurately convey the situation of the outbreak."

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, an elderly man in his 80s residing in Hong Kong who had boarded the cruise ship disembarked in Hong Kong and was confirmed as infected with the novel coronavirus on the 2nd. Since the 3rd, health checks have been conducted on all passengers. Among approximately 3,700 passengers, 273 samples were tested, and 61 were confirmed infected. The largest number was 28 Japanese, and passengers from nine countries including the United States, Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong were infected.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.