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THỪA THIÊN HUẾ — All Vietnamese staff, including health workers and those who served tourists on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, have tested negative for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the central Thừa Thiên Huế Province’s Department of Health has announced.

Nguyễn Nam Hùng, director of the department, said by 9am on Tuesday – 14 days since the Diamond Princess cruise ship visited Chân Mây Port on January 17, no Vietnamese staff have shown signs of fever, coughing or breathing difficulties caused by the coronavirus.

No cases of infection have been reported so far.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises under the British-American Carnival Corporation & Plc., carrying 2,700 passengers and 1,050 crew members departed from Japan to Hong Kong on January 20. It docked at Chân Mây Port in the central province of Thừa Thiên Huế at 6.30am on January 27.

At the port, functional forces implemented quarantine procedures for all passengers and crew members, took temperatures, inspected the spraying of disinfectant and distributed leaflets on the prevention of nCoV. 

The provincial Department of Health said none of the passengers showed symptoms of the acute respiratory disease at that time. More than 1,250 passengers left the ship and joined the tours as previously registered. 

All passengers and crew members returned and left Chân Mây Port at 5pm on January 27 for Quảng Ninh Port.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship has become the biggest centre of the novel coronavirus infection of any place outside China after a passenger was found infected with the virus last month. The passenger reportedly got off the ship in Hong Kong.

The ship has been in quarantine since arriving in Japan’s Yokohama. By Wednesday, 40 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported, bringing the total number of infected cases among passengers and crew to 175, Japan’s Department of Health reported.

They have been asked to stay inside their cabins, wear masks and keep a distance from each other. The quarantine period is expected to last until February 19. — VNS