KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Feb 2020:
Two Malaysians on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess – which is currently anchored and quarantined at the Yokohama Port in Japan – have been tested positive for Covid-19 and undergoing treatment in that country.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah wrote in his official Facebook today that two more Malaysians were still waiting the Covid-19 test results.
“The quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess is the largest cluster of Covid-19 cases outside China with more than 400 people tested positive.
“There are two Malaysians on board have been tested positive for Covid-19 while two others are still awaiting for the results. Both infected patients are being isolated and looked after in Japan.”
Yesterday, the media reported that thus far, 455 passengers on board the cruise ship tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the first Malaysian Covid-19 patient was allowed to return home yesterday – having fully recovered from the infection, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said.
He said this brings the number of recovered cases to nine.
He said the 41-year-old individual received treatment at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in Selangor and had undergone repeated Covid-19 tests – which were found negative on two consecutive tests before being discharged.
“The total cumulative confirmed Covid-19 cases in Malaysia remains at 22, with 13 still receiving treatment in hospitals,” he said in a statement.
Of the 22 confirmed cases, 12 are from Patient-Under-Investigation (PUI), eight are from close contacts and two are Malaysians evacuated from Wuhan.
Also, the Cambodian Ministry of Health said in a statement late yesterday that 1,010 out of the 2,257 people onboard the Westerdam cruise ship had been allowed to disembark from the ship in the last three days, reported Xinhua news agency.
The statement said the first batch of 409 people left the ship on Friday, flying from the Sihanoukville International Airport, the third largest airport of the country, to the Phnom Penh International Airport in the capital before taking flights to their home countries.
Another 601 people disembarked from the ship on Saturday and Sunday, and had flown to the capital to wait for flights to their homeland, it said, adding that the health authorities have been thoroughly providing health checks to the remaining Westerdam passengers both on the ship and in Phnom Penh.
Holland America Line, the operator of the Westerdam, said in a press release yesterday Westerdam guests at a hotel in Phnom Penh have all completed the Covid-19 screening.
“Results are being returned when completed, with the first batch of 406 all being negative,” the press release said. “Cleared guests may travel home, and arrangements are being made for those guests.”
Double-checks on the remaining passengers came after one Westerdam passenger tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease while transiting in Malaysia.
The 83-year-old American is currently in stable condition, and her husband tested negative for the virus.
The Cambodian Ministry of Health said so far no Cambodian has tested positive for the virus.
Cambodia allowed the Westerdam cruise ship – which had been denied entry to port by Thailand, Japan, China’s Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines – due to fears over Covid-19, to dock at its sea port of Sihanoukville on Thursday. Passengers have been allowed to disembark since Friday after 20 sick passengers had tested negative for the virus.
Thailand has barred the entry of foreign national passengers on board MS Westerdam cruise ship after the American woman tested positive for Covid-19 in Malaysia.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul said passengers from MS Westerdam cruise ship are not allowed travel to Thailand or take a transit flight here until end of the 14-day incubation period for Covid-19, starting Feb 14.
“We do not want to put other passengers at risk to catch the virus at the airport or in flight. Therefore, all airlines must take responsibility (in not flying cruise passengers to Thailand),” he said after chairing a meeting on Covid-19 yesterday.
Meanwhile, director-general of the Disease Control Department Dr Sophon Iamsirithavorn said 21 Thai nationals – 19 crew members and two passengers were on board the cruise ship and they are allowed to enter the kingdom.
“They will undergo intensified screening when they enter Thailand and put on a 14-day quarantine.”
Meanwhile, Thailand reported one new case of Covid-19, bring the tally to 35 confirmed cases in the kingdom.
Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary Sukhum Kanchanapimai said the 68-year-old Chinese woman had close contact with positive patients.
“The woman had been put under surveillance after her family members tested positive for Covid-19.
“She showed symptoms of Covid-19 infection and was admitted to a hospital. She tested positive for the virus. She is the fourth confirmed cases in the family.”
To date, there are 35 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country of which 15 of them have recovered and returned home while 20 are still receiving treatment in hospitals.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed two more positive cases of Covid-19 in the republic, bringing the tally to 77.
One of the cases is a one-year-old male Singapore citizen who was among the group of Singaporeans evacuated from Wuhan on Feb 9, the ministry said in a statement here.
The infant did not have symptoms of the coronavirus when he boarded the flight and was put under quarantine upon landing in Singapore.
He is currently in isolation at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Meanwhile, the second new case is a 35-year-old male Singapore citizen with no recent travel history to China.
He was confirmed positive in the morning and is currently in isolation at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, said the ministry.
The man is a contact of the 50th case comprising a 62-year-old male DBS Bank employee who was confirmed to have the virus on Feb 12.
To date, a total of 24 cases have recovered fully from the infection and have been discharged from hospital, said the ministry.
Of the 53 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving, while four are in critical condition.
So far, 937 suspected cases have tested negative for COVID-19, while test results for a remaining 103 suspected cases are pending.
The ministry has also identified 2,358 close contacts who have been quarantined, of which 1,081 are currently quarantined, and 1,277 have completed their quarantine.
– Bernama