Coronavirus: Australian virus cases on board Diamond Princess jump to 30

Thirty-six Australians aboard the Diamond Princess have caught coronavirus, as 20 passengers look set to decline evacuation.

The quarantined ship Diamond Princess at Yokohama port. Picture: AP

Thirty-six Australians have now caught the COVID-19 virus on the disease-ridden Diamond Princess cruise ship, as about 20 passengers look set to decline the government’s offer to evacuate them to a Darwin isolation camp.

Government sources told The Australian the number of coronavirus cases among Australians had shot up from 22 on Tuesday.

It is a significant increase in one day, as more than 90 total new cases were discovered by Japanese authorities in the past few days.

Those Australians who have the virus will remain in Japanese hospitals and won’t be repatriated.

At least 170 passengers will board a Qantas flight on Wednesday afternoon bound for Darwin’s Howard Springs facility. However, more than 20 Australians are yet to agree to the conditions.

The Australian embassy in Tokyo has asked nearly 200 passengers to respond in writing ­before boarding that they agree to a 14-day isolation period in the Northern Territory.

If they do not accept the evacuation offer, Australians on the ship will not be allowed back in Australia for two weeks. At least 20 out of 200 passengers have yet to sign up to the flight.

“Some of you may expect that, after the planned release from quarantine by Japanese authorities after 19 February, you could make your own way home to Australia on commercial flights,” an embassy email to evacuees reads.

Passengers Ellis and Kimberly Vincent

“The AHPPC (Australian Health Protection Principal Committee) advice is that this is not possible without a period of formal quarantine. Accordingly, the Australian government will ensure that any passengers from the ­Diamond Princess who are not on the Qantas charter flight will be identified and not allowed on other flights to Australia until Wednesday 4 March 2020.

“Even if you board another aircraft, you may be prevented from entering transit countries as they impose their own travel and quarantine arrangements.”

Sydney couple Ellis and Kimberly Vincent said on Tuesday they had been given no information about the flight’s departure time or the baggage limits for the journey, and had little faith in the government.

“We look at this with a certain amount of scepticism when we saw the Americans send an aircraft, the Canadians getting onto the ball very quickly,” Mr Vincent told The Australian.

“The cruise ship company has been more on the ball than the Australian government has, and there seems to be more care. We flew business class and had business-class baggage allowance. We called the embassy and said we would not be ditching any baggage for this aircraft.

“They said they would flag that and come back to us but you never get them coming back to you. There shouldn’t be any reason for us to be restricted because it will only be two-thirds full.

“I just hope we’re not dithering as the Prime Minister was … that would be the last straw.”

Mr Vincent said the American disembarkation of its passengers took more than four hours, and he hoped the Australian evacuation would be smoother.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said in Darwin on Tuesday he expected 200 Australians to board the flight out of Yokohama to the Howard Springs quarantine camp. “These are our mums and our dads, our grandparents, as well as others, and it’s our job to bring them home,” Mr Hunt said of the cruise ship passengers.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AMOS AIKMAN

WHAT THE LETTER SAYS

Dear Australians on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship,

We are writing to advise you an Australian Government offer to fly you back home on this coming Wednesday 19 February. A video from the Chief Medical Officer will follow shortly.

Qantas Medical Departure Flight on Wednesday

We are pleased to advise that the Australian Government has chartered a Qantas Boeing 747 to leave Haneda Airport on Wednesday. Transport will be arranged from the ship to the airport.

The flight will travel directly to Darwin Airport where you will then be provided with bus transport to the Howard Springs Accommodation Village in the Darwin suburb of Howard Springs. Based on the advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), the Australian Government will then expect you to undertake a further period of quarantine of up to 14 days in this Village.

Naturally, many of you will ask why a further period of quarantine is needed after you have already confined yourself as required in your cabins for the last 12 days. The reason is that we need to protect you, your family and the general community from the spread of this virus in Australia. The advice from AHPPC is clear that the only way to do this is by an additional period of quarantine in a facility far more suited to quarantine than a ship, where you have more spacious accommodation, and access to the outdoors. An experienced health team and medical centre will be provided to ensure that, if you or any passenger from the Princess Diamond subsequently tests positive for COVID-19, they can be rapidly identified and managed in Australia’s world class hospital system. A 24 hour onsite health team will also be available to address any other health or medication issues that you might have.

Howard Springs Accommodation Village has modern accommodation and a range of other good facilities including health care from the Australian Medical Assistance Team. You will be in a completely separate part of the village to those other Australians who returned from Wuhan, China over a week ago and have been successfully quarantined already with no cases of infection detected.

We know you will be very disappointed at not going directly home but we also know that none of you would want to expose your family and the community to the risk of this virus spreading widely in Australia.

Pre departure checks and conditions

In order to ensure that the best protection is provided to you and the Australian community, we will only be able to accept onto this charter flight people who agree in writing to the conditions of the travel back to Australia, including the period of quarantine in Darwin and health screening before boarding.

Before being accepted onto the flight on Wednesday, health officials from Australia need to conduct a health assessment of each passenger.

Alternative Quarantine Arrangements

Some of you may expect that, after the planned release from quarantine by Japanese authorities after 19 February, you could make your own way home to Australia on commercial flights. The AHPPC advice is that this is not possible without a period of formal quarantine.

Accordingly, the Australian Government will ensure that any passengers from the Diamond Princess who are not on the Qantas charter flight will be identified and not allowed on other flights to Australia until Wednesday 4 March 2020. Even if you board another aircraft, you may be prevented from entering transit countries as they impose their own travel and quarantine arrangements. Other countries responses to coronavirus may change with very short notice to alter or close travel routes.

If you arrive in Australia on a commercial flight, you will be subject to health screening on entry and may be subject to a Human Biosecurity Control Order under the Biosecurity Act 2015, which may impose on you a number of restrictive conditions, including restricting your movements or requiring your isolation.

We appreciate that the above is a very strong response but it is essential that we continue our efforts to prevent or reduce the risk of this virus emerging, establishing itself or spreading in Australia.

We have attached a form which sets out the terms and conditions on which your facilitated return to Australia will be provided by the Australian Government. We would ask that you read the form carefully. If you have any questions, these can be raised with Consular officials. We would ask that you respond to this letter by email indicating your consent to the proposed arrangements.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TRAVEL

By accepting to undertake the travel and associated health measures and quarantine processes from Japan to Australia provided by the Australian Government (“travel”), passengers agree to the following terms and conditions:

• The Australian Government is providing transportation on Wednesday 19 February 2020 in order to assist the departure of persons from the Princess Diamond Cruise Ship located in Yokohama.

• Transportation will be arranged by land from Yokohama to Haneda Airport, Tokyo, and then by air to Darwin.

• Passengers will then be transported to the Howard Springs Accommodation Village accommodation complex in the Darwin suburb of Howard Springs.

• Passengers will undergo health screening(s) prior to departure and will be expected to remain in quarantine in Darwin for a period of up to 14 days, in accordance with Australian Government advice and directions.

• At all times during transportation and quarantine, passengers must comply with any reasonable directions and advice issued by the Australian Government.

• Passengers who agree to take this travel assume all risks for personal injury or illness, property damage and any other loss or damage they may suffer as a result of this travel. Passengers will not make any claim against the Australian Government, its employees or agents for such loss or damage.

• In the event that any passenger suffers any loss or damage as a result of this travel, the passenger must first make a claim under any relevant insurance policies applicable to the passenger (including insurance taken out by the passenger’s employer, the charter service and/or airline). The Australian Government will pay any compensation only to the extent that the amounts set out in the paragraph below exceed the amounts recovered from such insurance.

• The total value of the Australian Government’s liability to each passenger, if any, will be limited to the lesser of:

— the amount of the insurance coverage maintained for this purpose by the Australian Government;

— the compensation payable to staff of the Australian Government in the same or substantially similar circumstances; or

— the amounts recoverable by passengers under any international agreements as to air carriers’ liability to which Australia is a party.