Coronavirus: British man on Diamond Princess dies in Japan

A UK man has become the sixth person to die of coronavirus after contracting it on board — with experts slamming the ship’s quarantine methods.

A British man has died in Japan after contracting coronavirus on the Diamond Princess ship, making him the first UK citizen to die of the disease.

Japan’s health ministry confirmed the man’s death, the sixth person to die from Covid-19 after contracting it on board the cruise ship.

A 79-year-old west Australian woman has also tested positive after being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

So far coronavirus has killed 2867 people, with 84,124 confirmed cases in 45 countries, including Australia.

A UK Foreign Office spokesman said assistance had been offered to the man’s family.

“We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Japan and are in contact with local authorities,” the spokesman said, according to the BBC.

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The Diamond Princess cruise ship was forced to dock in Yokohama port after coronavirus was detected on board. Picture: Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP.

“Our sympathies and thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”

More than 3700 people were on board the Diamond Princess, which was sent into lockdown after it emerged a passenger that left the ship in Hong Kong had later tested positive for coronavirus.

More than 621 cases of coronavirus — including multiple Australians — have been confirmed on the ship, with speculation the quarantine of passengers may have contributed to the spread of the illness.

Earlier this month the Australian Government evacuated 180 Australian passengers that have been aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, but 15 refused to evacuate.

The evacuated passengers are currently serving out two weeks of quarantine outside of Darwin.

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Quarantine procedures on board the ship have been criticised by experts. Picture: Department of Foreign Affairs via AP.

Ushers wear protective face masks before the start of a concert by Japanese girl group Perfume outside Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on Tuesday. Picture: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong.

A ‘BOILING POT OF TRANSMISSION’

On Monday it was revealed 23 passengers had disembarked from Diamond Princess despite not being properly cleared.

The passengers had been released after the two week quarentine period and had tested negative for coronavirus, however, had not undergone a second test for clearance, Japanese officials said.

The incident is just the latest in a series of mistakes made in the quarantining of the Diamond Princess, according to top scientists who say the cruise liner became an “incubator” for the disease.
While passengers were kept sequestered in their rooms, crew delivered water, food and medicine and were not subjected to the same strict quarantine controls.

Crew continued to share common living areas, despite some of them testing positive for coronavirus.

Japanese government health adviser Dr Norio Ohmagari said measures put in place to stop coronavirus spreading on board may have in fact aided the spread.

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This week it emerged 23 passengers had been allowed to disembark the Diamond Princess despite not going through the proper checks. Picture: Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP.

“We suspected some of the staff may have been infected, but they had to operate the ship itself, they had to see the passengers, they had to deliver the meals,” he said, according to The Sun.

“So that may have caused some close contact with the cruise ship workers and also the passengers.

“I’m very sorry for what happened here, because there was a limitation in terms of facility, in terms of the structure of the cruise ship.

“Unfortunately to maintain daily life of the more than 3700 passengers, we needed help, we needed support from cruise members to maintain the daily life.”

The decision to quarantine passengers in such close quarters has been slammed by health experts.

Global health expert Dr Roojin Habibi said shutting all the passengers in together had created a “boiling pot of transmission”.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the New York University School of Medicine, said: “Boats are notorious places for being incubators for viruses.

“It’s only morally justified to keep people on the boat if there are no other options.”