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44 more on Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive for COVID-19 STAFF REPORT FEB 13, 2020 ARTICLE HISTORYPRINTSHARE The health ministry said Thursday that 44 more people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off Yokohama have tested positive for COVID-19. Among them are 29 Japanese and 15 non-Japanese. Forty-three of the new cases were those of passengers, while one case was that of a crew member. The new cases bring the number of passengers and crew members infected with the virus to 218. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/13/national/coronavirus-diamond-princess/#.XkTDJWhKjIV

44 More confirmed - 29 Japanese and 15 non-Japanese. Forty-three of the new cases were those of passengers, while one case was that of a crew member.

Future response for passengers on cruise ships quarantined at Yokohama Port ク ル ー ズ The cruise ship “Diamond Princess”, which arrived at Yokohama Port on February 3, 1980, is undergoing quarantine at sea, but to ensure the health of crew and passengers on board. , Ask passengers to spend their time in their own private rooms, and carry out a new coronavirus test for those with respiratory symptoms such as fever and cough. In addition, treatment at medical institutions has prevented the spread of infection on board. 一方 で On the other hand, there are some elderly people who have basic illness on board, and they have to stay in a room without windows for a long time until the incubation period elapses. Some may harm. 〇 Therefore, apart from the new coronavirus infection, perform a PCR test for those who are considered to be at high risk from the viewpoint of ensuring health, and disembark if any of the negative ones are desired. You will be required to live in accommodation provided by the government. Those who do not wish to stay will be left on board. The 〇 specifically, sequentially from the side of more than 80 years of age, and no windows at-ship room, who has been living in the only window that can not be opened and closed even if there is a window the room who are having such as, underlying disease for For those who have just conducted a new coronavirus test and found negative, those who wish to disembark should disembark and stay at government-prepared accommodation until the incubation period is resolved. It was made. 方 In addition, those who are confirmed to be positive for the new coronavirus as a result of the test will be treated at a medical institution. In addition, we do not deal with the dense contact who is confirmed positive. 検 Quarantine of the cruise ship is ongoing. We will continue to conduct new coronavirus tests for those who need it, and will announce the results later. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_09465.html

Japan MoH announces testing of at risk passengers to determine if they can be released.

Transcript for CDC Telebriefing: CDC Update on Novel Coronavirus Press Briefing Transcript Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Please Note: This transcript is not edited and may contain errors. playstopskip-backwardskip-forwardvolume Volume Range Slider Scrub Range Slider Operator: Welcome and thank you for standing by. At this time, I would like to inform all participants that your lines have been placed on a listen only mode until the question and answer session of today’s call. Today’s call is also being recorded. If anyone has any objections, you may disconnect at this time. And now I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Benjamin Haynes. Sir, you may begin. Benjamin Haynes: Thank you Sue. And thank you all for joining us for today’s briefing to update you on CDC’s 2019 novel coronavirus response. We are joined today by Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, who will give open remarks before taking your questions. I will now like to turn the call over to Dr. Messonnier. Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Thank you for joining us. Today, I would like to provide a few updates on important developments over the last few days. First, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the American who died in China over the weekend. As far as we know, this is the first American to die from this new coronavirus. Though more than a thousand people in China have died. My sympathy and my thanks go to the people of China, for those who have lost loved ones and those who are on the front lines battling this virus. In China, they are taking aggressive measures just as we are in the United States. Since we briefed you last, there has been one new confirmed novel coronavirus infection detected in the United States. The new confirmed infection is an individual who returned from Wuhan and was quarantined at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. This individual was on one of the last Department of State flights out of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak in China. Given the spread of the virus in Wuhan, it is not surprising to see a positive case among people who recently returned from there. That is in fact the reason they are being quarantined. Currently the person has mild illness but is hospitalized. This brings the total number of confirmed positives in the United States to 13. I want to clarify some of the reports that have been circulating about this case. Last Thursday when one of the planes from Wuhan landed at Miramar, a few people were sick and transported to local hospitals for further evaluation. These people were placed in isolation and samples were taken for testing. When running laboratory diagnostics for any disease, anywhere in the world, the ability to match the individual to the specimen is key, and is part of the normal procedures put in place to ensure that that matching is done correctly. But in this situation with this patient, it didn’t work correctly, and the patient was misidentified initially as negative. The issue was identified within 24 hours. The CDC tested the sample, the positive result was conveyed quickly to the local public health and CDC teams. The mishap was unfortunate, but we have corrected this from happening again in the future by adding additional quality control. And it’s really important to emphasize that during this time appropriate infection control precautions were taken around everyone, including around this patient who, again, is doing well. Now I’d also like to update you on our diagnostic test kits. As you know, this is a dynamic, rapidly evolving situation, and our response continues to be based on the latest science. We continue to be flexible to meet the public health challenges that the virus presents, and clearly a success is the CDC rapid development of a diagnostic and rapid deployments to the states, which was clearly important to try to bring the testing closer to patients to avoid delays that have been inherent in sending samples to CDC. When the state receives these test kits, their procedure is to do quality control themselves in their own laboratories. Again, that is part of the normal procedures, but in doing it, some of the states identified some inconclusive laboratory results. We are working closely with them to correct the issues and as we’ve said all along, speed is important, but equally or more important in this situation is making sure that the laboratory results are correct. During a response like this, we know things may not always go as smoothly as we would like. We have multiple levels of quality control to detect issues just like this one. We’re looking into all of these issues to understand what went wrong, and to prevent these same things from happening in the future. Before I take questions, I want to give you a couple more updates. Since the airport screening began in mid-January, CDC and its partners have screened more than 30,000 passengers from China. With the temporary restrictions on travel, we are seeing fewer and fewer travelers from China, especially from Hubei province. Passengers are being funneled through 11 airports, most of these people are coming from parts of mainland China outside of Hubei, show no symptoms and have not been assessed as high risk. Those who passed the screening continue on to their final destination where they self-monitor their health for 14 days in cooperation with their state and local health departments. We’re asking these people to limit their activities and stay home during that 14-day period. Our goal is to be as least restrictive as possible while ensuring the safety and health of all Americans. Since starting our travel restrictions and funneling through airports, we have not detected any cases among returning travelers from China. Most of the U.S. cases were found before the travel restrictions were put in place among travelers who returned from Wuhan and later sought medical care for their illnesses. These cases were picked up by astute clinicians and reported to CDC. We are continually reassessing our recommendations around quarantine and self-monitoring and will continue to work with state and local public health departments to refine and improve this process. Most of the diseases in China, however, we can and should be prepared for this new virus to gain a foothold in the U.S. The goal of the measures we have taken to date are to slow the introduction and impact of this disease in the United States but at some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. Or other countries and this will trigger a change in our response strategy. This will require the effort of all levels of Government, the public health system and our communities as we face these challenges together. We are focusing now on preparing in other areas, including development of guidance for our health care practitioners, and planning for increased demand on our health care system. One important aspect of this is taking steps to make sure there are enough supplies and appropriate guidance to prevent the spread of the disease, especially among health care personnel caring for patients. We understand the importance of providing guidance that health care facilities can implement given the availability of personal protective equipment or PPE supplies. CDC talks regularly with health care industry partners as well as PPE manufacturers and distributors to assess availability of PPE. At this time, some partners are reporting higher than usual demand for select N95 respirators and face masks. CDC does not currently recommend the use of face masks for the general public. This virus is not spreading in the community. If you are sick or a patient under investigation and not hospitalized, CDC recommends wearing a face mask when around other people and before entering a health care provider’s office, but when you are alone, in your home, you do not need to wear a mask. People who are in close contact with someone with novel coronavirus, for example, household contacts and care givers of people with known or suspected 2019, I’m sorry, nCoV 2019, we should wear a face mask if they are in the same room as the patient and that patient is not able to wear a face mask. Health care personnel should wear PPE including respirators when caring for confirmed or possible nCoV patients because they’re in direct contact with those patients which increases their risk of exposure. We will continue to work with our public health partners around the clock to address this public health threat. Some good news this week is that yesterday the first group of 195 people who returned from Wuhan on a State Department flight completed their 14-day quarantine. None of those people have this new virus, and all left March Air Reserve Base successfully and happily returned along the way to their families and their communities. It’s important that people understand that these people being released from quarantine pose no health threat to the surrounding communities or the community that they will be returned to. I want to extend my thanks to them for their cooperation and patience during the quarantine and wish them well as they return to home, work and school. I also want to thank the men and women on March Air Reserve Base and their families for their graciousness while hosting these guests. I also want to say that CDC is working in close collaboration with Japanese health authorities to ensure precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of disease on the Diamond Princess cruise ship as well as making sure the American citizens on that cruise ship are safe. We recognize the continued uncertainty of the current situation. As always CDC public health experts strive to make the best recommendations based on the most up-to-date data. I would be happy to take questions now. Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. In order to provide everyone the opportunity to ask questions, we ask that you limit your questions to one question and one follow up. If you have further questions, simply reinsert yourself back into the queue and your additional questions will be answered as time permits. To ask a question, please press star followed by one. Please ensure your phone is unmuted and record your name clearly when prompted. Again, that is star followed by 1 to ask a question. If you need to withdraw your request press star 2. One moment for the first question. Our first question is from Richard Harris with NPR. You may go ahead. Richard Harris: Thanks very much. I have a point of clarification and then a question. And my clarification is based on your description of what happened with the test mix up, it sound as though somebody was misidentified as being positive and this person was misidentified as being negative, right, and then you realized that you had the identities wrong and you switched them. I want to make sure that I understand that. Let me ask my question also, which is a little more in-the-weeds, but I’m interested to know what the status is of being able to have a stereological test to identify people who have been exposed but haven’t shown signs of disease. Where is that right now? Dr. Nancy Messonnier: The answer of the first question is thanks for asking me to clarify because no, that is not exactly right. Because of the problem with identification of the patient, the initial run didn’t include that. You know, as you can imagine, at CDC, there are a large number of specimens being processed, coming in and out, and it’s important that they be identified appropriately so that they’re prioritized. Because of the way that sample was identified, it wasn’t run in that first run. Therefore, it was when the second run was done that we found that it was positive, so it isn’t that somebody else was identified as positive. The sample wasn’t initially run. And the answer to your second question is clearly a stereological test is important in the United States we want to be able to look to see if people zero converted but especially hopefully we’ll be able to help the Chinese look. That test would be really helpful to be able to understand the spectrum of illness that is are there people who are either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic that have stereological evidence of being exposed to pathogens. We have the beginnings of the stereological tests, because we now have patients in the United States, we’re able to collect additional specimens but we have to collect them over time so that we can have the appropriate timing of specimens to make sure that we understand what the immune response looks like. Once we complete the gathering of those specimens from the patients we’ll be able to pretty rapidly, I would say within a couple of weeks, three weeks, four weeks, be able to have a test available but right now, we’re still in the range of testing of gathering the appropriate specimens from the patients in the U.S. Next question. Operator: thank you, the next question is from Ivan Couronne with “AFP,” you may go ahead. Ivan Couronne: Thank you. Have any of the test kits already been actually shipped outside of the U.S.? And if so, which country? Operator: One moment, please stand by. Dr. Nancy Messonnier: I’m here. Thank you, I’m sorry. I didn’t get off mute, so excuse me. We have shipped the test kit internationally. I don’t have the specific list of countries in front of me. On last count and this is a couple of days ago, it was somewhere more than 30 countries. It’s important to recognize that this is part of a normal procedure that CDC uses for exactly this kind of reason, to get help make test kits available to other countries who may not have easy access to the same reagents and resources that CDC does, so it’s test kits and each of those countries that are receiving it will go through the same procedures that the recipients in the U.S. are, which is they would do an internal validation verification process before they’d be using those kits, so I also don’t know yet, and we can follow up on this whether any country that has received the kits has gone through that process yet, and whether countries have actually used it. I just don’t have that in front of me. Next question. Operator: Thank you, the next question is from Hillary Bourke with “Business Insider,” you may go ahead. Hillary Bourke: Yeah, thanks for taking my call. I had a question about the incubation period. I’m wondering what you think about the new paper that suggests it’s possible the virus might incubate for as long as 24 days in some cases. Have you seen any evidence to support that idea so far? Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Yeah, so, it’s a really interesting report that has come out. As you can imagine, there is a lot of data coming out and a lot of scientists appropriately are rushing to make sure that any data that they have is in the public realm where all the rest of the scientific community can make use of it. I applaud everyone’s efforts. We have seen in some situations the rush to get data published hasn’t necessarily led to there being the usual level of oversight to make sure that each of the findings is quality controlled, frankly. So, we’re looking at that data closely, but we’re frankly looking at all the other data that’s available that looks at incubation periods. I would say the incubation period is obviously really important for us as we look to make sure that we’re releasing these people safely from quarantine, but the abundance of data, that is available still is consistent with our current stance, which is to use 14 days as the end of that incubation period. I also would say that this is a confusing situation because there may be patients that have mild or even asymptomatic disease that isn’t recognized and when you look at incubation period, you’re starting at the point where a patient is exposed and then counting the days until that patient mounts symptoms. But if there is widespread community spread, for example, it may be that some of those initial exposures aren’t detected and it makes it hard to be sure about the actual incubation period. Our CDC staff there actually are something like 50 separate modeling groups in the United States that are working with us on exactly these issues. It’s important that we work with all of these modelers because they have different symptoms than we do, but we’re working with all of the greatest minds in the country and globally try to pin down these facts as much as we can, and we still think that for today, for now, 14 days is the right interval to use. Next question. Operator: Thank you. The next question is from Mike Stobbe with the “Associated Press,” you may go ahead. Mike stobbe: Hi, thank you for taking my call. My initial question is I need to ask about this, the reports out of China, the cases reported dropped down significantly the last couple of days. I know it’s just two days, but they were in the 3,000 range and now they’re 2,478 and 2,050, that dropped, what if anything do you make of that, and my follow-up question is about you discussed the kits going out to the states, could you say a little more about did kits go to all 50 states and were you expecting that they’d be up and running this week but now it means it’s going to be two weeks from now. Could you help us better understand the impact of what’s going on and what kind of delay it entails, thank you. Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Sure. It’s only two questions this time. Good. So, the Chinese cases dropping down, I’m going to be optimistic that that is a sign that their aggressive efforts have been effective, but I really do think it’s too soon to say that for sure, not having hands on the data ourselves. There is a WHO advanced team in China now, and I’m hopeful that they will have access to the data themselves and be able to validate those findings. It would certainly be reassuring if we were now seeing at least a slowdown of this outbreak in China. So that’s the first question. The second question is a little complicated but what I would say is that of course we hoped that everything would go smoothly as we rushed through this, you know. We moved quickly, that’s appropriate under these circumstances but it’s equally appropriate to do quality control which is what we do, and where these — where this issue was caught, it is part of the normal procedures. Of course, I hoped that this week every state — and every state did receive a kit — every state would be up and running. How long is it going to take? I can’t tell you that for sure because I understand that not every state has completed their verification yet. And it won’t be until we have results from every state that we know which states can continue and which states we need to — we need to get new reagents to. We’re working closely with FDA. Again, we do expect this week that some states may move forward. Other states may need to get additional reagents from CDC, and I don’t have an estimate yet from our laboratory staff as to how long that takes, and when we do, we will definitely be, first, letting the states know and then letting you all know. Next question. Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Denise Grady with “New York times.” You may go ahead. Denise Grady: Hi, thank you very much. I’ll ask you both questions. One is could you please go over the criteria, so we understand exactly who is being tested, who’s qualified for testing and then if the result is negative, does it mean anything? Dr. Nancy Messonnier: I’m sorry, I’m going to just pause because there’s an ambulance going through. Just wait. Okay. So, let’s see, the criteria for testing in the United States focuses on people who are ill with the spectrum of symptoms that we have associated with this, which is fever, respiratory symptoms, cough, shortness of breath who have had appropriate travel history or who have been identified as contacts of a confirmed patient. And so, in each of the states where these cases have been identified, we’ve been looking at potential contacts of patients as to look to see if it spread, that contact tracing did identify the two cases that we say weren’t directly associated with travel. Those are in close contacts of two patients who traveled but outside of those close contacts around confirmed cases, our focus right now is on people who have a travel history that is consistent with where this outbreak is spreading. And we’re comfortable with that as the basic criteria because so far, we are not seeing widespread community spread in the United States. That is that the cases we’re seeing are all directly linked with travel to Hubei and China. It is also true that we did some testing of asymptomatic people, but it wasn’t in the setting of trying to make a clinical diagnosis. It was in the setting of using that to try to learn more about how this is being spread, and I think people may have misunderstood it. We did that in the first 195 people who were repatriated into the United States, but we have not been testing asymptomatic people who have returned on the other repatriation flights. And that relates to this question of what being negative means. If we have a patient who is symptomatic and has the right travel history, a negative means that at least at that point we don’t think they have disease. If a patient is at very high risk in clinical discussions with their health care provider and health department, they may be tested again. If they’re at very high risk. But in general, in a symptomatic patient, a negative, we think means that they’re negative. The difference is that when we were using it at march air force base to learn more about how this was being spread, it is possible that someone could be negative and still be incubating the virus and therefore we, in that setting, didn’t judge a negative to let us be confident that somebody was able to be released from quarantine. So that’s the distinction that we’re making. Next question. Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Julie Steenhuysen with “Reuters,” you may go ahead. Julie Steenhuysen: Thanks, I have a couple of questions. First off, we know now that the w.h.o. Has a team in China. Are you — are any representatives from the CDC a part of that team? And can you say a little bit more about what kinds of problems the state labs encountered in validating the tests and why you need to send new reagents and finally are there any more flights expected from China carrying U.S. citizens? Thanks. Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Okay. The advance team is three WHO staff. They’re staff that are well known to us. They have a lot of experience. They are being articulated as an advance team, and I heard a report from them this morning. They’re getting access to data, and doing the things you would expect them to do and as you all know, CDC stands ready to send staff to the affected areas in China to work on this investigation and as soon as we’re given the invitation, we are happy to do that, but we haven’t been invited yet. More planes, I think there is continued conversation that Americans who are still in Wuhan or other parts of China, so those conversations are ongoing, and I don’t have any specific information right now as to whether there will be additional folks repatriated in groups like we saw with these planes. So, I don’t have any specific information on that. In terms of the test problems, it gets a little weedy, but I can give you a little more detail. When a state gets the test kits, they have to verify that it works the same in their lab that it worked at CDC. And when some states were doing this, we received feedback that they weren’t — that it wasn’t working as expected, specifically some public health labs at states were getting inconclusive results and what that means is that test results were not coming back as false positive or false negatives, but they were being read as inconclusive. Now, these were not tests being run on actual clinical specimens from potential patients. These were part of the verification process, and because of that we are — when we evaluated what the issue is, we think that there might be an issue with one of the three assays and we think that maybe one of the reagents wasn’t performing consistently, so it’s a long story to say that we think that the issue at the states can be explained by one reagent that isn’t performing as it should consistently and that’s why we are re-manufacturing that reagent, obviously a state wouldn’t want to be doing this test and using it to make clinical decisions if it isn’t working as well as perfectly at the state as it is at CDC, so this is part of a normal process and procedure and redoing the manufacturing is the next step. Next question. Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Erika Edwards with NBC news. You may go ahead. Erika Edwards: Yeah, just to follow up on that, are all the tests still coming through the CDC in Atlanta for conclusive results while the states work out their issues? And separately, I just wanted to learn more about your thoughts on that growing number of cases on the cruise ship docked in japan. I mean, is there anything that CDC is even able to do to help the Americans on board? Thanks. Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Yeah, thanks for the clarification and yes, all clinical specimens are still being sent to CDC for validation. I think you would expect nothing less from us as obviously the results of this test are so meaningful, and we’ll continue to provide that backstopping frankly even after states are up and running. I would ask that you — that the right language wouldn’t be a problem with the states. It’s a collective problem, so I don’t want this to be seen as something that the states are doing incorrectly. That is certainly not the situation here. This is really part of a normal process and procedure, and, you know, we have the quality control set up specifically to allow us to identify these kinds of problems. In terms of the cruise ship, I know that there are Americans on board, there are certainly Americans that are ill and it’s certainly concerning the high number of cases on that cruise ship. We are working closely with the embassy in japan, and the state department to help with thinking through what’s the right actions. Somebody from the state department may be on the phone, and if so, I’ll ask them if they want to make a comment on this. Ben, is somebody there? Benjamin Haynes: No, Nancy, sorry, nobody from — Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Okay. So, I guess they’re probably not on the phone because they’re helping — working with us to think through what to do. Obviously, it’s a high priority to make sure that the people that are already sick or the people that are still on the ship and asymptomatic are getting the best care possible. We want to protect their health, and we’re working closely, again, through the embassy on thinking through what the right next steps are, and when there’s more information, we will clearly make that available as quickly as possible. Next question. Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Tom Howell with the “Washington Times.” You may go ahead. Tom Howell: Hi, thanks for doing the call. Just branching off the question about the cruise ship, do you have any numbers of how many Americans are on board and how many of them might be infected if any? Dr. Nancy Messonnier: I actually don’t have those numbers in front of me but what I would say is there are definitely Americans on board who have been diagnosed with and now I have to get this name right, nCoV 19. Excuse me for not getting it right. I’m still working on it. There are Americans on board that have been diagnosed with nCoV 19, but I don’t have the numbers on me right now, and we can certainly follow up. Next question. Operator: Thank you, the next question comes from Nate Wetzel with “The Hill,” you may go ahead. Nate Wetzel: Hi, thanks for doing this call. I’m just wondering, there have been reports that the virus might either weaken or sort of die out as the weather gets warmer. Do you have any evidence for that? Has that been officially confirmed? Dr. Nancy Messonnier: So, I think I would caution overinterpreting that hypothesis. I think what folks are saying, which I think is a valid point is that most viral respiratory diseases are seasonal, and we’ll use as an example influenza. Influenza has a season. It can alter a little bit but it’s generally, we know what time of year is going to be the peak of influenza and in general, as we head towards spring and summer, we expect the cases of influenza in the United States to fall off. That’s true for other viral respiratory diseases also that have a winter season. So, if this behaves similarly, it may be that as we head towards summer and, I guess, spring and summer, the cases would go down, but this is a new disease. We haven’t even been through six weeks of it, much less a year, and so I certainly would, I mean, I’m happy to hope that it goes down as the weather warms up, but I think it’s premature to assume that, and we’re certainly not using that to sit back and expect it to go away. The aggressive actions were taken or we’re taking are because we don’t think we can count on that since again, we haven’t been through even a single year with this pathogen. Next question. Benjamin Haynes: Sue, we have time for one more question, please. Operator: Thank you. Our last question comes from Steve Baragona with “voice of America,” you may go ahead. Steve Baragona: Hi, thanks for doing the call. You mentioned a couple of times about information you’re getting from the Chinese. I know that’s been an issue throughout this outbreak. How is your access to data? Are you getting all the information you need, and if not, what’s the hold up? What impact does that have on your ability to respond? Dr. Nancy Messonnier: I’m happy to talk about this. I’ll start by saying there’s nothing really new in this space compared to what we have said previously. There has been a lot more data coming out of China in the recent weeks, compared to perhaps from the very beginning, and there have been meetings, for example, hosted by w.h.o. Where Chinese authorities have presented their data. As an epidemiologist seeing a graph that somebody else produced is never as good as touching the data yourself. Being able to look at it yourself and being able to ask the questions and run the data directly, so having that distance from the actual ongoing investigation in China or anywhere is never the best way for us to be able to be completely confident that we understand the situation. That is the — part of the reason that we want to have folks on the ground. I’m working specifically on this investigation, the other is that I would say that CDC scientists are certainly some of the best in the world and our scientists have a lot to offer in terms of looking at what’s going on right now in terms of the analysis. We also find that when you’re in the midst of doing an investigation yourself, sometimes it’s hard to step back and folks coming from outside who haven’t been so enmeshed in the day-to-day sometimes can pick up things you didn’t think of or have a different perspective. That’s the other reason that it would be helpful to have a broader set of folks being able to look at the data itself. I have nothing new to say in terms of the data coming out. There is more coming out in the published literature but CDC staff themselves haven’t yet gained direct access to the data and we continue to be hopeful that we’ll be invited to do that. Thank you. Benjamin Haynes: Thank you, Dr. Messonnier, and thank you all for joining us for today’s briefing. Please check CDC’s 2019 novel coronavirus web site for the latest updates on CDC’s response efforts and if you have further questions, please call the main media line at 404-639-3286 or e-mail [email protected], thank you. Operator: Thank you, that does conclude today’s conference. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/t0212-cdc-telebriefing-transcript.html

Summary of Minister Kato's Interview (Monday, February 10, 2011, 11: 08-11: 26) [Public Relations Office] Conference Details Cabinet meetings Minister: Good morning. At the beginning, I have nothing to say. Question Reporter: Regarding the new coronavirus, the cruise ship Diamond Princess has been infected among crew members. Under such circumstances, how to improve staff's living environment and work environment, such as serving meals, how to prevent the spread of infection, and the period of staying on board while finding new infected people February Isn't that different for 14 days from 5 days? Minister: First, five crew members are now positive. It is said that at the beginning, they worked for two people in a restaurant, two people in a place like a drink service and a bar, and one person as a housekeeper. Because of the suspension of business, I think it will be whether there is a person carrying food to each passenger. From February 5th, we have been requesting that passengers be quarantined and that passengers be individually in their rooms. However, when serving meals, be careful not to make heavy contact with the crew. Is talking about such things as wearing masks and gloves, and having passengers open it without touching knobs, etc., to prevent the spread of such infections. It means that you are doing it according to such criteria, but just this time, five positive people came out, so what was the so-called active epidemiological survey on these five people, that is, what was being done We are conducting another survey to see if it is possible. In addition, crew members are out this time, so I would like to take thorough measures to prevent infection. From February 5 to 14 days of health observation period, there is no change in this policy at this time. Reporter: Although it is about the time of disembarkation of those who are on the cruise ship, I think that the minister has certainly spoken on a TV program, but it is also considering that all members will be inspected at the time of disembarkation How much do you think so far about this idea? Minister: If you arrive on a charter flight, we will consider a PCR test when you arrive, and a PCR test after 12.5 days, the so-called infection period, to confirm a negative result. In the case of this cruise ship, everyone must be prepared to respond to problems with the implementation of the PCR test at the beginning, or if it occurs in other areas, Not implemented. Under such circumstances, I received instructions from the WHO regarding the 14-day health observation period and stated that I had not changed my policy now in such a way, but there are so many infections on board. In such a situation, we have received various voices that we should carry out the inspection again when we leave, so we will take such a voice and give details on how to respond to the inspection and whether it can be done or not. We are just doing some research. Reporter: When you disembark, do you think that we are considering to conduct inspections? Minister: As for the direction, we are examining the direction of inspection. However, it is not a situation where you can affirm what you can do at this stage. Reporter: Is there a separation between crew and passenger? Minister: The crew, including that area, will not be able to enter the country if, for example, they can continue to sail on this ship. It is said that while examining the circumstances around, how many people will perform PCR testing on an exit basis, and how much ability and how long it will take for it, etc. The situation. Reporter: As I have seen before, how to count the number of people on cruise ships, but in the sense of domestic infection, if you look at the reports of each company, you can naturally tell how many people in Japan and how many on cruise ships Although it is posted in a form like this and naturally has a recognition that it is temporarily different, it is said that WHO has been reported as `` others '' to the WHO, including those that came out this weekend again I guess, please give us some thoughts on this count. Minister: Rather, as I mentioned earlier in the result of explaining the situation of our outbreak to WHO, WHO says that by country, Japan and "others" What occurred on the cruise ship was divided into "others". We have announced it in conformity, and in the case of additional cruise ship incidents, we have added it to "others". I don't know how many people are in the WHO report, but at the moment it's 70. Reporter: As for confirmation, please let us know if there have been no new cases confirmed since last night on cruise ships and other places, and whether the Minister has received such information. Minister: Now, we are proceeding with PCR testing in the ship. We have not heard the final situation yet. Reporter: Does that mean that no new reports have been issued yet? Minister: Yes. Reporter: Also, if it was very difficult to live a standard life on board, the reporter told the press conference that a new emergency network was created on the ship to request the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for improvement and that a request for improvement was made. , I came from the representative of the group inside, to the Minister. Minister: I haven't heard it yet, so I don't know, but in any case, of course, it is necessary to take good care of the health of the ship, We are now working hard to respond to the lack of medicines that we are always taking. In addition, other supplies are provided in a push-like form. Reporter: Regarding the cruise ship's medicine, there are voices that there is still not enough medicine today, but in what situation is the voice of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare still not getting enough medicine now? please tell me. Minister: As I said yesterday, there were about 600 people who were urgent at first. I was doing it one by one, transported yesterday and arrived in the morning yesterday. If there is a mistake in the medicine, there is no way for the doctor to check it, and since there are many foreigners, they usually drink when translating or handing over It is said that each person will explain very carefully that the efficacy is different even if it is the same as the medicine.Unfortunately, at the stage of yesterday, we were able to deliver only about half of the originally planned I am doing it by trying to hand it over. Then, in the case of the emergency just mentioned, there are some people who are not urgent but need medicines, so we will procure them one by one, bring them to the ship, and distribute them We are also doing the work of doing, but first of all, the current situation is that we give priority to what is urgently needed. Reporter: Are there any prospects for non-emergency medications so far? Minister: As for things that are not urgent, we have been talking about various things again and again, so I think that it will not be all over no matter where you do it, but the number of 1850 people appeared in the press conference yesterday as well I think it was. Therefore, it is not always accurate because about 600 are urgent and total, but about 1100 of the remaining, we are responding now to provide this quickly. Reporter: There is a report that the raising of the subsidy rate from 60% to 80% will be included in the declining birthrate policy for parental leave benefits, but please tell us about the status of examination of this and the future prospects. Minister: As we have seen in the newspapers, we are not in the situation that we actually have such a consultation right now. Originally, we recognize that our attitude toward parental leave is still relatively high compared to other countries. Reporter: It is related to the capacity because of the inspection of all cruise ships at the time of disembarkation. How many inspections are currently possible per day? Minister: If it is all over Japan, it is the response of the local health research institute, but there is a problem, for example, whether Hokkaido or Okinawa can be used, so it is hard to say how much it is total. Basically, we are working hard now, focusing on what we can do in close places, and at the same time, with the cooperation of private testing companies and hospitals where there are medical schools at universities, how much capacity we have. We are doing what we can do now. Reporter: Apart from capacity, as a minister, we include the necessity of all inspections at the time of disembarkation, especially epidemiologically, but how do you think about the necessity? Minister: This is a 14-day health observation at the WHO, and we are operating in accordance with this, but basically we do not make close contact because there are infected people while doing so I am asking you that. However, there are various concerns, so it is necessary to respond to the concerns and concerns of the people as much as possible, so I would like to do so if I can do it as I said earlier, The current situation is that we have not reached the situation to affirm. Reporter: In terms of charter aircraft, I think that the number of positives on Flight 4 was considerably less than the previous flights 1 to 3, but how do you think about the factors around this? . Minister: It is not always possible to analyze it, so I can not speak officially, but while listening to various people, at the beginning of the operation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we will ask you to ride sequentially from the closest to the center of Wuhan city There was a story. Some people may think that this reflects the outbreak situation in the central area and the place where it was located, but what we officially state as this is the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare I do not have. Reporter: So whether it is in Wuhan city or outside Wuhan city will be different in the future? Minister: I agree. However, even in Wuhan, it is heard that there is a considerable regional difference between the center and the periphery of Wuhan city or the whole Hubei province, but I say that this is based on the chemical evidence just mentioned. I don't have anything. Reporter: It's all about inspections, but if all of them are to be inspected at the time of disembarkation, will that delay the period of staying until the inspection results come out? Minister: Naturally, if you decide to do it at the time of disembarkation, I think that it will be that everyone will be disembarked after waiting for the result, but I just said that I have not reached the point of doing it. Reporter: You mentioned earlier that there are people on a cruise ship who need medicines and need urgent medicine, but for example, what kind of illnesses are there, and now How many people are left on the cruise ship now? Minister: For one, I don't know what kind of medicine there is, but for example, yesterday I was on a news program, but he said that he had no insulin for diabetes. Other than that, there is still a risk that the symptoms will worsen if you do not take the medicine, and we are dealing with such things that are urgent. It is about how many people are riding now, but as of February 9th, more than 3,600 people are riding now at this stage. I know that there are 3,711 people riding at first. Reporter: About the inside of the cruise ship I mentioned earlier, it is estimated that there are about 3,600 people on board, so there are many elderly people, so I think that there are various things to do on the ship and to respond to medicines and sick people I suppose that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare now has about a dozen or so DMAT teams on board, but please tell us if there are any plans to increase the number of staff as ministers. Minister: Now, in addition to DMAT, we have a team that supports mental health called DPAT. In addition, we have elderly medical specialists, and of course, also infection medical specialists to see the situation on the ship and say that we should do such things as well We have. In addition, we are responding to those who need medical care, those who have symptoms, and the staff for performing PCR tests, including the recognition that they are not yet sufficient, and we are now working to increase the number of staff as appropriate. . https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/kaiken/daijin/0000194708_00202.html

Media Statement For Immediate Release Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Contact: CDC Media Relations (404) 639-3286 CDC Confirms 14th Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus CDC today confirmed another infection with 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States in California. The patient is among a group of people under a federal quarantine order because of their recent return to the U.S. on a State Department-chartered flight that arrived on February 7, 2020. All people who have been in Hubei Province in the past 14 days are considered at high risk of having been exposed to COVID-19 and subject to a temporary 14-day quarantine. This is the second person at this base who has tested positive for COVID-19. The first and second patients arrived on different planes and were housed in separate facilities; there are no epidemiologic links between them. According to CDC on-site team lead Dr. Chris Braden, “At this time there is no indication of person-to-person spread of this virus at the quarantine facility, but CDC will carry out a thorough contact investigation as part of its current response strategy to detect and contain any cases of infection with this virus.” This brings the total of number of COVID-19 cases in the United States to 14. There are likely to be additional cases in the coming days and weeks, including among other people recently returned from Wuhan. While 195 people were discharged from quarantine yesterday, more than 600 people who returned on chartered flights from Wuhan remain under federal quarantine. For the latest information on the outbreak, visit CDC’s Novel Coronavirus 2019 website.

CDC today confirmed another infection with 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States in California. The patient is among a group of people under a federal quarantine order because of their recent return to the U.S. on a State Department-chartered flight that arrived on February 7, 2020. All people who have been in Hubei Province in the past 14 days are considered at high risk of having been exposed to COVID-19 and subject to a temporary 14-day quarantine. This is the second person at this base who has tested positive for COVID-19. The first and second patients arrived on different planes and were housed in separate facilities; there are no epidemiologic links between them.

Epidemic Situation of New Crown Pneumonia in Hubei Province on February 12, 2020 With the deepening of understanding of new coronavirus pneumonia and the accumulation of experience in diagnosis and treatment, in view of the characteristics of the epidemic in Hubei Province, the General Office of the National Health and Health Commission and the Office of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued the "Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for New Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia (Trial (Version) "adds" clinical diagnosis "to the case diagnosis classification in Hubei Province, so that patients can receive standardized treatment according to confirmed cases as early as possible to further improve the success rate of treatment. According to the plan, Hubei Province has recently conducted investigations on suspected cases and revised the diagnosis results, and newly diagnosed patients were diagnosed according to the new diagnosis classification. In order to be consistent with the classification of case diagnosis issued by other provinces across the country, starting today, Hubei Province will include the number of clinically diagnosed cases into the number of confirmed cases for publication. From 02:00 to 24:00 on February 12, 2020, Hubei Province newly added 14,840 new cases of pneumonia (including 13332 clinically diagnosed cases) , of which: 13436 cases in Wuhan, 37 cases in Huangshi, 26 cases in Shiyan, and 13 in Xiangyang Cases, 26 in Yichang, 321 in Jingzhou, 231 in Jingmen, 204 in Ezhou, 123 in Xiaogan, 264 in Huanggang, 9 in Xianning, 31 in Suizhou, 26 in Enshi, 20 in Xiantao There were 69 cases in Tianmen City and 4 cases in Qianjiang City. There were 242 new deaths (including 135 clinically diagnosed cases) in the province , including: 216 in Wuhan, 3 in Huangshi, 1 in Xiangyang, 3 in Yichang, 2 in Jingzhou, 2 in Ezhou, and Xiaogan There were 4 cases in Huangshi City, 4 cases in Huanggang City, 1 case in Xianning City, 2 cases in Suizhou City, 1 case in Enshi Prefecture, and 3 cases in Xiantao City. 802 new hospital discharges (including 423 clinically diagnosed cases) , including: 538 in Wuhan, 17 in Huangshi, 11 in Shiyan, 6 in Xiangyang, 10 in Yichang, 22 in Jingzhou, and 11 in Jingmen 23 in Ezhou, 28 in Xiaogan, 89 in Huanggang, 19 in Xianning, 11 in Suizhou, 10 in Enshi, 5 in Xiantao, 1 in Tianmen, and 1 in Shennongjia Forest District. As of 24:00 on February 12, 2020, Hubei Province has reported a total of 48206 cases of new coronary pneumonia (including 13332 clinically diagnosed cases) , of which: 32994 cases in Wuhan (including 12364 clinically diagnosed cases) and 911 cases in Huangshi (including clinical 12 cases were diagnosed), 562 cases in Shiyan City (including 3 clinically diagnosed cases), 1101 cases in Xiangyang City, 810 cases in Yichang City, 1431 cases in Jingzhou City (including 287 clinical diagnosis cases), and 927 cases in Jingmen City (including clinical diagnosis) 202 cases), 1065 cases in Ezhou City (including 155 clinically diagnosed cases), 2874 cases in Xiaogan City (including 35 clinically diagnosed cases), 2662 cases in Huanggang City (including 221 clinically diagnosed cases), and 534 cases in Xianning City (including 6 clinically diagnosed cases), 1160 in Suizhou, 229 in Enshi (including 19 clinically diagnosed cases), 480 in Xiantao City (including 2 clinically diagnosed cases), and 362 in Tianmen City (including 26 clinically diagnosed cases) There were 94 cases in Qianjiang City and 10 cases in Shennongjia Forest District. A total of 3441 patients were discharged from the hospital. The province has a cumulative total of 1,310 cases, including 1036 cases in Wuhan (including 134 cases of clinically diagnosed cases), 9 cases in Huangshi City, 1 case in Shiyan City, 13 cases in Xiangyang City, 11 cases in Yichang City, and 23 cases in Jingzhou City. There were 24 cases in Jingmen City, 30 cases in Ezhou City, 49 cases in Xiaogan City, 58 cases in Huanggang City, 7 cases in Xianning City, 14 cases in Suizhou City, 4 cases in Enshi Prefecture (including 1 case of clinically diagnosed deaths), and 16 cases in Xiantao City. There were 10 cases in Tianmen City and 5 cases in Qianjiang City. At present , 33,693 patients are still being treated in the hospital , of which 5647 are critically ill and 1437 are critically ill. There were 9028 suspected cases, 3317 were excluded that day, and 6,126 were concentrated and isolated. A total of 158,377 close contacts were tracked, and 77,308 people were still under medical observation.

5647 are critically ill and 1437 are critically ill 3441 patients were discharged from the hospital. The province has a cumulative total of 1,310 deaths http://wjw.hubei.gov.cn/fbjd/dtyw/202002/t20200213_2025581.shtml

The Bavarian Ministry of Health informed on Wednesday about the current development in cases with the novel corona virus in Bavaria. A ministry spokesman said in Munich that, according to the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), there were no further confirmed coronavirus cases in Bavaria until Wednesday afternoon. There are currently 14 confirmed coronavirus cases in Bavaria (as of 1:00 p.m.). Two of these had become known on Tuesday evening. The 13th case is a 49-year-old who is now medically monitored and isolated at Munich Clinic Schwabing. The man is an employee of the company from the district of Starnberg, where most of the previously known cases are also employed. The 14th case is a family member of another employee of the company. This employee, whose findings were positive the previous week, is also in the Munich Clinic Schwabing. Further details are not given with a view to the required protection of privacy. https://www.stmgp.bayern.de/presse/aktuelle-informationen-zur-coronavirus-lage-in-bayern-bayerisches-gesundheitsministerium-16/

The Bavarian Ministry of Health informed on Wednesday about the current development in cases with the novel corona virus in Bavaria. A ministry spokesman said in Munich that, according to the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), there were no further confirmed coronavirus cases in Bavaria until Wednesday afternoon. There are currently 14 confirmed coronavirus cases in Bavaria (as of 1:00 p.m.). Two of these had become known on Tuesday evening. The 13th case is a 49-year-old who is now medically monitored and isolated at Munich Clinic Schwabing. The man is an employee of the company from the district of Starnberg, where most of the previously known cases are also employed. The 14th case is a family member of another employee of the company. This employee, whose findings were positive the previous week, is also in the Munich Clinic Schwabing. Further details are not given with a view to the required protection of privacy. https://www.stmgp.bayern.de/presse/aktuelle-informationen-zur-coronavirus-lage-in-bayern-bayerisches-gesundheitsministerium-16/

Community spread of COVID-19 in the US is expected.

Media Advisory For Immediate Release Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Contact: CDC Media Relations (404) 639-3286 CDC Media Telebriefing: Update onCOVID-19 What The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide an update to media on the COVID-19 response. Who Nancy Messonnier, M.D., Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases When 11:30 am. ET Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Dial-In Media: 800-857-9756 International: 1-212-287-1647 PASSCODE: CDC MEDIA Non-Media: 888-795-0855 International: 1-630-395-0498 PASSCODE: 2684824 Important Instructions Due to anticipated high volume, please plan to dial in to the telebriefing 15 minutes before the start time. Media: If you would like to ask a question during the call, press *1 on your touchtone phone. Press *2 to withdraw your question. You may queue up at any time. You will hear a tone to indicate your question is pending. TRANSCRIPT A transcript will be available following the briefing at CDC’s web site:www.cdc.gov/media.

CDC Media Telebriefing: Update onCOVID-19 What The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide an update to media on the COVID-19 response. Who Nancy Messonnier, M.D., Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases When 11:30 am. ET Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Feb 11 Diamond Princess 39/53 new positives Limit on diagnostic kits Severe cases New name for nCoV New case definition which eliminates pneumonia requirement Asymptomatic cases not counted by China Asymptomatic cases for lowering CFR US cases Asymptomatic cases expanding cluster in Germany Asymptomatic cases expanding cluster originating in Singapore Hong Kong 35 story apartment cluster http://mediaarchives.gsradio.net/rense/special/rense_021120_hr3.mp3

The drainage issue was about the 35 story apartment building in Hong Kong -nothing to do with ship

Tarzana man on cruise sent to a hospital in Tokyo with a high fever; tested for coronavirus “I asked to be tested too. We were living in the same cabin. But they said they were low on test kits.” Mohammad and Farah Toutounchian aboard the cruise ship, the Diamond Princess. The Tarzana couple were among the thousands of passengers and crew members quarantined due to a coronavirus outbreak. He developed a fever and was hospitalized. She remained aboard the ship. (Courtesy of Farah Toutounchian) By ROXANA KOPETMAN | [email protected] | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: February 11, 2020 at 8:57 pm | UPDATED: February 11, 2020 at 10:02 pm When San Fernando Valley resident Farah Toutounchian first heard about the coronavirus threat aboard her cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, violinists were playing music. She turned to her husband and said: “This reminds me of the Titanic.” That was before Feb. 4, when some 3,700 passengers and crew were ordered quarantined aboard the ship outside Japan. By Monday, California time, Mohammad Toutounchian became one of the Americans who showed symptoms of the potentially deadly virus and was taken from the ship to a hospital in Tokyo. By Tuesday night, his wife was experiencing the same symptoms. Mohammad Toutounchian remained in a hospital intensive care unit and has been able to communicate with his family, his wife said in a phone interview from the ship, where she remained in quarantine. “They didn’t let me go with him,” she said sobbing. What began as an idyllic two-week cruise that set sail on Jan. 20 from Tokyo through Southeast Asia has ended in what Farah Toutounchian described as something akin to “a horror movie.” Farah and Mohammad Toutounchian aboard the cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, before a quarantine was ordered after a coronavirus outbreak. (Courtesy of Farah Toutounchian) Passengers are not allowed to leave their cabins except for designated periods, with only a certain number of people from each of the ship’s 14 levels out on outside decks at any one time. Everyone on the ship was handed a thermometer and asked to take their own temperature. If it goes over 37.5 Celsius — which is 99.5 Farhrenheit — they are to call a “fever line” on the ship, Farah Toutounchian said. But reaction was not swift when she called that hotline. “The only answer I got was, ‘I will pass your information to the doctor.’” Her husband’s fever climbed past 102 degrees Farhrenheit, even after taking some over-counter fever reducing medication. Phone calls from her and her grown sons in California and Kentucky to Princess Cruises accomplished nothing, she said. So Farah Toutounchian, a financial adviser from Tarzana, emailed the U.S. Embassy with this subject line: “I need help and medicine.” It worked. Two hours later, Japanese doctors knocked on their cabin door. And soon after that, they returned to test Mohammad Toutounchian, 71, before taking him by ambulance to the hospital. “I asked to be tested too. We were living in the same cabin. But they said they were low on test kits,” said his wife, who is 61. “They were very nice. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. And the U.S. Embassy, they saved my husband’s life,” she said. Hours after he was taken away, she said she got a phone call from the ship’s medical team. “This is the punchline,” she said. “They asked, ‘How is your husband doing. We heard he has a fever.’ They didn’t even know he was gone.” The family awaits to hear test results for Mohammad Toutounchian, an engineering consultant, to determine whether he has the Wuhan, China-based coronavirus that has struck more than 44,000 people, killing more than 1,000, mostly in China. The Diamond Princess ship had the highest number of people infected out of China: 174 as of Wednesday, Tokyo time. That included a new batch of positive cases. “This is your captain speaking,” the captain began during one of his regular announcements that pipe into every cabin and room of the ship. There were 38 new cases, he said. All would be notified and transferred out, he said. As Farah Toutounchian listened to the captain, she was unnerved. “Who are these 38 people who are positive? Are any working, serving food?” “I feel for the crew. Some are sick too,” she said. “I called Princess Cruise four times. I was worried my husband and I would catch the virus. I told them every time, they are preparing the food in the kitchen and there some sick people in the crew. “If they get sick, they send them home without compensation. So some of them hide it at first. These are very poor people. The minute they’re sick, there are no benefits.” Food continued to be delivered to each room, she said, that “spared no costs.” But Toutounchian said she would prefer the ship offer them inexpensive packaged, sealed food that is not prepared by others. “I don’t care about gourmet food coming to the door. I want something packaged. I asked for $1 ramen soup,” she said. A request for comment on the Toutounchian couple’s concerns was placed with Princess Cruises. Toutounchian and the remaining passengers and crew have to remain aboard the ship until at least Feb. 19, when the 14-day quarantine is over. But by Tuesday night, which was Wednesday in Tokyo, she was closely monitoring her health. She was experiencing body aches and other symptoms. And her temperature climbed to 38.5 Celsius, one degree over the temperature that necessitates a report. “I already called (the ship’s medical staff.) They said they have a lot of people sick on this ship,” she said. If she is transferred from the ship to a hospital, Toutounchian wants to be taken to the one housing her husband.

Japanese doctors returned to test Mohammad Toutounchian, 71, before taking him by ambulance to the hospital. “I asked to be tested too. We were living in the same cabin. But they said they were low on test kits,” said his wife, who is 61. https://www.dailynews.com/2020/02/11/southern-california-man-on-cruise-sent-to-a-hospital-in-tokyo-with-a-high-fever-tested-for-coronavirus/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ladailynews

Japan cruise ship coronavirus cases climb to 175, including quarantine officer by Times of NewsFebruary 12, 2020 TOKYO (Reuters) – Another 39 people have tested positive for the coronavirus on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan as well as one quarantine officer, bringing the total to 175, the health ministry said on Wednesday. The Diamond Princess was placed in quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, on Feb. 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was diagnosed with the virus. The epidemic originated in mainland China, where more than 1,100 people have now died from the virus. About 3,700 people are aboard the ship, which usually has a crew of 1,100 and a passenger capacity of 2,670. The ministry said tests are being conducted for others who are deemed to need them and it will announce the results later. The U.K.-flagged Diamond Princess is managed by Princess Cruise Lines, one of the world’s largest cruise lines and a unit of Carnival Corp (CCL.N). Kyodo news agency, citing the health ministry, said that of the 39 cases, 10 were crew and 29 were passengers. Ten were Japanese nationals and the others were from 11 countries including the United States and China. Four were in serious condition, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said. INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: Tracking the spread of the coronavirus from China – here The quarantine officer had been handing out questionnaires checking the health of passengers and crew since Feb. 3, and had been following rules that require wearing a mask and gloves but not a full protective suit, according to the Nikkei business daily, quoting the health ministry. “It’s terrible about the quarantine officer. I wonder if they (the officer) are from the first batch that came aboard,” one 43-year-old passenger on the ship told Reuters, declining to be identified. “The ones who came to our room to do the initial screening had gloves and surgical masks, while the ones who came to do the actual virus test also had full gowns and full face masks.” A health ministry official had no immediate comment, but Nikkei said the ministry was checking into the officer’s contacts with colleagues and family members. “There are lots of ways to get infected even if you’re wearing a mask. Hand hygiene, touching the mask and then not washing hands, wearing a mask but touching your eyes with contaminated hands … It happens,” said David Fisman, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. “Personal protective items reduce risk, they don’t eliminate it,” he said. The government was considering allowing elderly and those with chronic illnesses to disembark before the Feb. 19 target date for ending the quarantine, some media reported, but added it would take time to figure out where they could be sent. As of last week, about 80% of the passengers were aged 60 or over, with 215 in their 80s and 11 in the 90s, the English-language Japan Times newspaper reported. Reporting by Chris Gallagher, Ju-min Park, Ami Miyazaki and Elaine Lies; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Stephen Coates and Kenneth Maxwell https://france.timesofnews.com/japan-cruise-ship-coronavirus-cases-climb-to-175-including-quarantine-officer

Cruise ship quarantine inspectors report 39 new passengers infected with new coronavirus Feb 12, 2020 11:27 　The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced on December 12 that a quarantine officer who responded to the quarantine of the ship was confirmed to be infected with the new virus on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, which had been infected with the new coronavirus. This is the first time a quarantine officer has been infected. In addition, out of the 53 passengers whose test results were newly found, 39 were infected, including 10 Japanese. China's Zhejiang Province also banned for entry from the 13th-government 　Out of a total of 492 inspected passengers and crew members of the ship, 174 were infected. A total of 203 people were infected in Japan.　The ministry also said that four of the cruise ship infected had critically ill patients wearing ventilators or entering intensive care units. All are males in their 60s and 70s and have a medical condition. Three of them are Japanese, one in their 60s and two in their 70s.　According to people involved, four of them have serious underlying illnesses. It is said that people infected with the new virus are more likely to become seriously ill with the disease and elderly people.　According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the infected quarantine officer is a man who works at the Yokohama Quarantine Station and is responsible for measuring passenger temperature and collecting questionnaires on quarantine from the night of March 3rd to 4th this month. At that time, he wore a mask and gloves. I worked outside the ship 5-7 days, sometimes not wearing a mask. He had a fever on the 9th and a medical institution on the 10th. The ministry ordered quarantine families and other close contacts to refrain from going out.　The ministry said that the infection could have spread to passengers through quarantine officers. "We have taken necessary protective measures, such as masks, and went offboard after five days, so it is hard to imagine at this time."　The ship arrived off the coast of Daikoku Wharf in Yokohama City on the night of March 3. The quarantine in Naha was canceled because the infection of a man who was disembarked in Hong Kong was confirmed after entering Naha on the 1st, and quarantine officers were aboard again and continued quarantine in Yokohama. https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=202002120031

Update on the epidemic situation of new coronavirus pneumonia as of 24:00 on February 11 Published: 2020-02-12Source : Health Emergency Office At 04:00 on February 11th, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported that 2015 confirmed cases (1638 cases in Hubei), 871 severe cases (897 cases in Hubei), and There were 97 deaths (94 in Hubei, 1 in Henan, Hunan, and Chongqing), and 3342 suspected cases (1685 in Hubei). 　　On the same day, 744 new cases were cured and discharged (417 in Hubei), and 30068 close contacts were lifted from medical observation. 　　As of 24:00 on February 11, according to reports from 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, there were 38,800 confirmed cases (among which, 8204 were severe cases), 4,740 were cured and discharged, and 1,113 were dead. A total of 44,653 confirmed cases have been reported and 160,67 suspected cases have been reported. A total of 451,462 close contacts were tracked, and 185,037 close contacts were still in medical observation. 　　A total of 77 confirmed cases were reported from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan: 49 in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1 death), 10 in the Macao Special Administrative Region (1 in discharged from cure), and 18 in Taiwan (1 in discharged from cure).   　　Note: The number of new severe cases is obtained by subtracting the number of severe cases on the previous day from the number of existing severe cases on that day. There are medical outcomes such as mild disease and death in severe cases. On February 11, the number of severe cases in 12 provinces decreased by 44 cases, and the number of severe cases in 8 provinces including Hubei increased by 915 cases.     (Note: When quoted by the media, please mark "Information comes from the official website of the National Health and Health Commission.")

8204 were severe cases), 4,740 were cured and discharged, and 1,113 were dead. http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/yqtb/202002/395f075a5f3a411f80335766c65b0487.shtml

Quarantine officers increased to 174, including 39 new cases confirmed on cruise ship 8:53 on February 12, 2020New type pneumonia According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 39 new outbreaks have been confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where outbreaks of the new coronavirus have been confirmed. This brings the total number of infected passengers and crew members to 174. A total of four people were put on ventilators or entered the intensive care unit, and three of them were Japanese. In addition, one quarantine officer was newly infected. This means that the quarantine officer was engaged in tasks such as asking passengers on board. Cruise ship berths again The cruise ship “Diamond Princess”, which has been anchored at Daikoku Wharf in Yokohama, has once left the shore to purify fresh water on the evening of the 11th, but again before 9am on the 12th Berthed at Daikoku Wharf. On the balcony of the guest room and on the deck of the ship, masked passengers were seen holding their cameras and waving.

New Coronavirus Infections Confirmed on Cruise Ships Quarantined at Yokohama Port (Part 7) 　The cruise ship “Diamond Princess”, which arrived at Yokohama Port on February 3, is undergoing quarantine at sea, but 39 out of 53 newly tested coronaviruses have been tested. Coronavirus positivity was confirmed. In the future, it will be transported to medical institutions with infectious disease wards. A positive number was confirmed in 174 of the 492 people tested. Those who are transported include elderly people and foreign nationals, and it is necessary to take measures that take into account physical conditions. The press is requested to give special consideration to coverage of this matter. Quarantine of the cruise ship continues to be implemented. A new coronavirus test is conducted for those who need it, and the results will be announced later. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_09425.html