• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
Coronavirus Deaths, Cases Leap in China; Markets Shiver

Hundreds of Americans flown home from cruise ship, 14 with coronavirus

February 17, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Small Biz Chief Pledges Zero Tolerance For Fraud After Biden Mission Drift

EXCLUSIVE: Small Biz Chief Pledges Zero Tolerance For Fraud After Biden Mission Drift

June 14, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: VA Will Save ‘Literally Millions Of Dollars’ By Scrapping Sex Changes, Sec Says

EXCLUSIVE: VA Will Save ‘Literally Millions Of Dollars’ By Scrapping Sex Changes, Sec Says

June 14, 2025
Authorities Identify Suspect In Assassination Of Minnesota Lawmaker

Authorities Identify Suspect In Assassination Of Minnesota Lawmaker

June 14, 2025
SEN. STEVE DAINES AND REP. STEVE WOMACK: Congress Should Be Able To Ban Flag Burning

SEN. STEVE DAINES AND REP. STEVE WOMACK: Congress Should Be Able To Ban Flag Burning

June 14, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: Thune Says Trump Nominees Are Being Confirmed At Rapid Pace Despite ‘Historic’ Obstruction

EXCLUSIVE: Thune Says Trump Nominees Are Being Confirmed At Rapid Pace Despite ‘Historic’ Obstruction

June 14, 2025
Democratic State Lawmaker, Husband Killed In ‘Politically-Motivated Assassination’

Democratic State Lawmaker, Husband Killed In ‘Politically-Motivated Assassination’

June 14, 2025
CASEY RYAN: Accreditors Wield Power To End DEI In Schools

CASEY RYAN: Accreditors Wield Power To End DEI In Schools

June 14, 2025
How NYC’s Little-Understood Voting System Could Lead To A Socialist Mayor

How NYC’s Little-Understood Voting System Could Lead To A Socialist Mayor

June 14, 2025
DAVID BLACKMON: Trump Ends Newsom’s Terrible Week By Killing His EV Mandate

DAVID BLACKMON: Trump Ends Newsom’s Terrible Week By Killing His EV Mandate

June 14, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: VA Sec Says Days Of Unions, Contractors Owning His Agency Are Over

EXCLUSIVE: VA Sec Says Days Of Unions, Contractors Owning His Agency Are Over

June 13, 2025
LA News Outlet Caught In Lie That ICE Targeted Pregnant Woman. It Really Went After Her Illegal Husband.

LA News Outlet Caught In Lie That ICE Targeted Pregnant Woman. It Really Went After Her Illegal Husband.

June 13, 2025
‘My Blood Is Boiling’: Dem Strategist Melts Down Over Alex Padilla Getting Booted From Noem Presser

‘My Blood Is Boiling’: Dem Strategist Melts Down Over Alex Padilla Getting Booted From Noem Presser

June 13, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Sunday, June 15, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Hundreds of Americans flown home from cruise ship, 14 with coronavirus

by Reuters
February 17, 2020
in News
247 5
2
Coronavirus Deaths, Cases Leap in China; Markets Shiver

Medical personnel arrive with medical supplies in transport aircraft of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 13, 2020. China Daily via Reuters

492
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

More than 300 American cruise liner passengers, including 14 who tested positive for coronavirus, were flown home to military bases in the United States, after two weeks under quarantine off Japan.

The cruise ship Diamond Princess, with more than 400 cases by far the largest cluster outside China, has become the biggest test so far of other countries’ ability to contain an outbreak that has killed 1,770 people in China and five elsewhere.

Ground crew in anti-contamination suits met a chartered jet that touched down at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas, and passengers could be seen climbing down the stairs wearing face masks in the pre-dawn mist. Another flight landed at Travis Air Force Base in California hours earlier. Those arriving were taken into a two-week quarantine.

Although U.S. officials said passengers with coronavirus symptoms would not be taken, 14 passengers found at the last minute to have tested positive were permitted to board the planes. The U.S. State Department said the infected passengers were kept in isolation on the flights.

Across mainland China, officials said the total number of coronavirus cases rose by 2,048 to 70,548. That was slightly more new cases than were reported on Sunday, but hundreds fewer than reported on Saturday.

Chinese authorities say the stabilization in the number of new cases is a sign that measures they have taken to halt the spread of the disease are having an effect.

However, epidemiologists say it is probably still too early to say how well the outbreak is being contained within China and its central Hubei province, where the virus first appeared. Official figures of new cases have leveled off in the past, only to jump suddenly after changes in methodology.

China has responded to the COVID-19 virus by locking down Hubei’s provincial capital Wuhan, a megacity of 11 million people, and imposing restrictions in a number of other cities.

But the ruling Communist Party is also under pressure to prevent the economy from crashing and get people back to work.

China’s central bank cut the interest rate on its medium-term lending, a move that is expected to pave the way for a reduction in the benchmark loan prime rate on Thursday. Beijing has also announced plans for cuts in taxes and fees.

Even so, economists expect China’s economic growth to slow. Ratings agency Moody’s on Monday lowered its 2020 GDP growth forecast to 5.2%, making it likely China would miss a goal to double GDP over the decade to 2020.

CRUISE SHIPS

Around half of all known cases of the virus outside China have been found aboard the Diamond Princess, where around 400 people have tested positive since the cruise liner was ordered to stay under quarantine off Japan on Feb. 3.

Several other countries have announced plans to follow the United States in bringing passengers home. Around half of the 3,700 passengers and crew are Japanese.

Matthew Smith, an American passenger who remained on the ship after refusing to board the voluntary repatriation flights, tweeted that staying behind was the “best decision ever”.

“US Gov’t said they would not put anyone on the planes who was symptomatic, and they ended up knowingly and intentionally putting on 14 people who actually have the virus,” he wrote.

Authorities around the world were also trying to track down passengers from another cruise liner, the Westerdam, which was turned away from ports across Southeast Asia for two weeks before docking in Cambodia on Thursday.

One American passenger who disembarked in Cambodia tested positive for the virus in Malaysia on Saturday.

Carnival Corp., which operates both cruise liners, said it was cooperating with authorities in trying to trace other passengers from the Westerdam. None of the other 1,454 passengers and 802 crew had reported any symptoms, it said.

“Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and be provided further information,” a statement from the company’s Holland America Line unit said. Hundreds of passengers are still in Cambodia, either on the ship or in hotels.

“We will all be tested for the coronavirus today and tomorrow by the Cambodian Ministry of Health,” said passenger Holley Rauen, a public health nurse and midwife from Fort Myers, Florida. “We have no idea when we get to get home.”

CHINA BACK TO WORK?

After an extended Lunar New Year holiday, China needs to get back to work or suffer severe economic consequences. There is a proposal to delay the opening of the annual session of parliament, due on Feb. 24.

Some cities remain in lockdown, streets are deserted, employees are nervous, and travel bans and quarantine orders are in place around the country. Many factories have yet to re-open, disrupting supply chains in China and beyond.

In Japan, where data showed on Monday that the economy had already shrunk last quarter at the fastest pace in almost six years, the impact of the virus is expected to show up in the current quarter, stoking fears of recession.

Trade-dependent Singapore downgraded its 2020 economic growth forecast and has said recession is possible. It is set to unveil measures to cushion the blow on Tuesday.

Organizers of the Tokyo Marathon have decided to limit the March 1 race to top-level athletes, banning 38,000 general participants, a person with knowledge of the issue told Reuters.

Japan’s Imperial Household Agency said it would cancel Emperor Naruhito’s public birthday address on Feb. 23, his first since his coronation last year. The event regularly attracts tens of thousands of people to the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace in the heart of Tokyo.

(Reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai; Claire Baldwin in Sihanoukville; John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Additional reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong, Sophie Yu in Beijing, Hilary Russ in New York and Daniel Trotta; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Nick Macfie)

Tags: Coronavirus Outbreak
Share196Tweet123
Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is an international news organization.

IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR