- The number of coronavirus cases among passengers aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship has almost doubled, going from an initially reported 70 to 136 as of Monday.
- Indian crew members are making public appeals, begging their government to rescue them.
- In a series of Facebook posts, Binay Kumar Sarkar said that those who are healthy should be allowed to disembark before they too contract the coronavirus, which is “risking everyone’s [lives].”
Verified coronavirus cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship surged over the weekend. The Indian crew members on board are begging their government for help.
On Monday, officials in China and Japan confirmed that 136 passengers on board the ship that arrived in Yokohama on February 3 have been diagnosed with having the virus. They’ve been quarantined at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal ever since their arrival.
The number of cases jumped from around 70, the number of cases that were initially confirmed. The ship is carrying 3,700 passengers and crew members overall.
—People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) February 10, 2020
A group of Indian crew members have been sharing videos on Facebook since Thursday, begging their government to rescue them.
One of them, Binay Kumar Sarkar, said that he and his team members are “scared.” Speaking in Hindi and flanked by five other crew members, he called not only on the Indian government but also the United Nations to enforce an “urgent segregation.” Those who are healthy should be allowed to disembark before they, too, contract the coronavirus, he said.
“Day by day [it’s] spreading … rapidly,” he wrote, and “and risking everyone’s [lives].”
Speaking to Business Insider, Sarkar described the situation on the ship as “out of control.” He said that Japanese authorities should be screening everyone on board for coronavirus. People are willing to wait till the results come back, but, if they don’t test positive, they should be allowed to leave the ship and go home to their families.
