Coronavirus: Lockdown passengers on Diamond Princess going ‘stir crazy’

Australians trapped on board the virus-hit Diamond Princess say they are ‘battling’.

Medical staff clad in protective gear prepare to provide care for suspected coronavirus patients onboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama on Saturday.

The collective mood aboard the stricken Diamond Princess luxury cruiseliner has darkened.

Only the 61 people who have contracted coronavirus have been allowed to disembark, leaving the remaining 3650 increasingly frustrated passengers in limbo.

Brisbane couple Carole and John Welch admit they are ­“battling”, and can see others on-board becoming deeply anxious.

The pair said the ship’s captain was delivering regular updates but passengers’ patience was wearing thin. “He keeps thanking everyone for their patience, but I am not sure how much longer people are going to be patient for. I just don’t see that after four, five, six, seven, eight days that people are not going to be a bit stir crazy,” Mr Welch said.

The couple are concerned that they may have to be quarantined again in Australia once they are release­d from the ship.

Quarantined passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where 61 passengers are confirmed to be infected with coronavirus as Japanese authorities continue screening people.

“We could have a double whammy,” Mr Welch said. “We’re in quarantine now, and after 14 days we could hopefully be all right. But when we go back to Australia, do we go back into quarantine?”

The pair weren’t overly concerned when they first heard about the initial 10 cases of coronavirus onboard. But when the Japanese Health Authority confirmed 51 more passengers had been diagnosed by Friday, including seven Australians, their mood “dampened”.

“The only way we can get off the ship at the moment is if we contract the virus,” Mr Welch, 77, said.

“We feel we should get off this boat. The situation seems to be getting worse.”

Ms Welch, 75, said she felt “frustrated” at the lack of communication they had received from the federal government.

“We would like the Australian government to take some action to get us all off — not just us, all ­Australians — that are not infected by the virus. I don’t know how much they are able to negotiate with Japan, but we would just like to see that they are trying to do something for us.”

Queensland couple, Jan and Dave Binskin have also complained about a lack of contact from the Australian government. They received an email with an Australian embassy contact in Japan two days ago.

Carole and John Welch. Picture: Supplied

The Palm Beach couple are entertaining themselves in their locked cabin by playing cards, pacing the cabin length and practicing Zumba dances.

“It is mentally very draining. We are definitely getting cabin fever, but just trying to make the best of it,” Mr Binskin told The Weekend Australian.

Five Australians were confirmed to be among 41 new cases, confirmed by Japanese health authorities on Friday.

“It brings it home that there’s such a high percentage who have been tested. We are sitting here thinking ‘are we next?’”

On Thursday, the treasurer said the federal government was in “close contact” with the 250 Australians trapped on the cruise ship.

Despite being confined to their inside cabin with no windows, Carole and John Welch said regular communic­ation with their family and a visit to the deck had given them something to smile about.

“Our spirits have been kept up because our family and friends have been contacting us,” Mr Welch said.

Passengers have been given a thermometer to check their temp­eratures, and have been told if they record readings above 37.5C, they must alert authorities.

“They have also supplied us with a mask and disposable gloves, which we must put on before we leave the cabin. We must stay a metre away from anybody else if we want to talk,” Ms Welch said.

Despite the prospect of being confined to a small cabin with no windows, the pair said the crisis, which has so far killed 635 people globally, will not dissuade them from future cruise ship holidays­.

“It won’t put us off, absolutely not,” Ms Welch said.