Before the infected cases for Covid-19 spike in South Korea, Iran and Italy, Diamond Princess cruise ship infected cases was just right behind China. Thus , the past 1 month all eyes were on Diamond Princess Cruise.
The cruise was a 14-day round trip itinerary that departed from Yokohama on Jan 20 and was scheduled to return on Feb 4. However, passengers on the ship had to be quarantined after 10 people on the cruise had tested positive for Covid-19. And over the next few weeks, the number of infections increase to 621.
It was only on Feb 19 that large numbers of passengers were allowed to disembark the cruise after their quarantine ended, after nearly a month of being on the ship.
On Feb 27, a Princess Cruises news release confirmed that the disembarkation of all guests is complete. Number of passengers tested positive with Covid-19 is 696 with 6 reported death.
Gennaro Arma, the captain had apparently disembarked on Mar 2 after overseeing the final transfer of all passengers to either a hospital or quarantine facility.
The photo of him finally leaving the ship after over a month was uploaded to Facebook on Mar 2 has gone viral with over 4,700 shares.
The Facebook with a caption stated that he was the last to leave Diamond Princess, a hero in the eyes of Princess global community. They wanted to thank him and his senior officers for their leadership, along with the service of exceptional onboard team. And also thank to all the government agencies in Japan and around the world to support them and their guests through this extraordinary time.
Lucky enough, the captain tested negative for the virus and is currently under quarantine in Japan. Hats off to you , Captain!
Source : Facebook