48 crew on cruise ship docked in Japan's Nagasaki test positive for virus

TOKYO - Fourteen more crew members aboard a cruise ship docked in Nagasaki, southwest Japan, have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number to 48, prefectural officials said on Thursday.

The figure compares to a day earlier when 33 additional crew members aboard the Italian cruise ship docked in the Koyagi district of Nagasaki City for repairs, tested positive for COVID-19, following one member testing positive on Tuesday.

Of the 34 who first tested positive, one has been sent to a specialist facility in Nagasaki City as health officials believed his symptoms may become worse.

Of the ship's total crew of 623, those who have tested positive were purportedly put in quarantine, while the remaining crew were supposed to be staying in cabins that have balconies, excluding the individual who has been sent for specialist treatment, local officials said. The ship is not carrying any passengers.

However, according to prefectural officials, around 130 crew members need to leave their rooms to perform duties necessary for the maintenance of the Costa Atlantica cruise ship.

The 14 who most recently tested positive for the pneumonia-causing virus are among this group, prefectural officials said.

The ship, operated by Costa Crociere, arrived in Nagasaki on Jan 29 and was scheduled to remain until the end of April, although health ministry specialists have said that it is likely that a cluster of COVID-19 infections has occurred aboard the vessel.

Due to the potential for a significant outbreak of the pneumonia-causing virus, Nagasaki Governor Hodo Nakamura said he planned to ask the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to be dispatched to help with the situation.

Contrary to initial reports, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., which has been carrying out repairs on the ship, said some crew members had boarded and disembarked from the vessel since the first coronavirus case in Nagasaki was detected on March 14 in the city of Iki.

The company said on Wednesday that some crew members had done so even after that date and those who disembarked included some who went to hospitals, adding that it has requested more information from the ship's operator Costa Crociere.

An immigration bureau in the region, meanwhile, reported that some 90 crew members disembarked the vessel over a one-month period through April 15. During the same period around 40 people are believed to have boarded the ship.

Nagasaki, on Thursday, also received another Italian cruise ship, the Costa Venezia, which has docked there to have its fuel and food replaced.

The second cruise liner is also carrying no passengers, prefectural officials said.