14 Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for the novel coronavirus before being flown in a “specialist containment” on a plane repatriating U.S. citizens back home, the U.S. government said early Monday.
The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,775 people and infected more than 70,000 others. Most cases and all but five of the deaths have occurred in mainland China.
Last 48 hours
- Diamond Princess: Before Monday’s announcement by the HHS, NIAID director Anthony Fauci told “Face the Nation” Sunday that more than 40 American passengers were confirmed as infected and would remain in Japanese hospitals for treatment.
- The remainder without symptoms were evacuated and will undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival. There are now 454 confirmed cases from this cruise, per the Japanese health ministry.
- Westerdam: An 83-year-old American woman was confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 after disembarking this cruise ship for Malaysia.
- Malaysian officials say they have now barred all cruise ships from its ports and the remaining Westerdam passengers are not welcome in the country
- Watch list: 42 U.S. states and territories report 443 (cumulative total) patients under investigation, of whom 81 are pending and 347 were found negative, the CDC said Friday.
- Misinformation: “This is a time for facts, not fear,” the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Saturday. “This is a time for rationality, not rumors. This is a time for solidarity, not stigma.” Misinformation over factors including the disease’s cause has triggered panic and xenophobia, including against Chinese Americans.
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