People who are quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess in Japan have been wondering how long their situation would last. On Sunday, the World Health Organization offered clarity on that question, NPR reports.
The coronavirus quarantine that has kept some 3,700 people aboard the cruise ship is set to end on Feb. 19. However, for "close contacts" of infected passengers, the quarantine will be extended 14 days from the last contact with a confirmed case, according to the WHO.
An additional 41 cases were confirmed on board early Friday, bringing the total among passengers and crew to 61. Those samples were part of the initial screening — meaning those confirmations didn't require a new 14-day quarantine to begin.
Then on Saturday, officials announced they had confirmed three more cases, for a total of 64.
Princess Cruises had announced that the previous group would end their quarantine on Feb. 19. Among those people, Japan's health ministry had taken samples from just 273 individuals who were deemed to be in an at-risk group, based on their recent travels.
The WHO position adds clarity to circumstances aboard the cruise ship, which is docked at Japan's Yokohama port.
On the ship, passengers — including some who had already spent two weeks aboard the vessel before the quarantine doubled their stay — are told not to leave their rooms. They visit the deck in shifts, for a rare breath of fresh air.
"My concerns are what happens next," passenger Aun Na Tan of Australia, told NPR's Rebecca Davis via text message. "We don't have a clear plan of what is going to happen," she added, citing the risk of new cases.
