Diamond Princess ship 'lifting its quarantine' after disinfection process following COVID-19 outbreak
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The Diamond Princess ship will be able to set sail again — when cruise travel resumes, that is — roughly two months after experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak onboard, Princess Cruises announced.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The ship, where more than 690 passengers and crew were infected with coronavirus — and of which seven people died — underwent an extensive cleaning and disinfection process, including the replacement of all mattresses and linens, Princess Cruises wrote on Twitter this week.
“We’re happy to share the news that #DiamondPrincess finished its thorough cleaning and disinfection.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The restoration group Belfor Group “completely a Level-3 deep cleaning (highest level) of the entire ship. The Japanese Ministry of Health and CTEHLLC both monitored and approved this process,” the tweet read.
The ship has been held in a shipyard in Yokohama Harbor in Japan.
“@MHLWitter certified the ship, lifting its quarantine and confirming her fit to sail with no traces of COVID-19. The ship is now at a shipyard by Yokohama Harbor for a refurbishment — including replacing all mattresses, linens, toys, etc. — and planned technical projects,” a follow-up tweet read.
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According to a study performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), genetic material of the coronavirus was present for up to 17 days on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. However, a Princess Cruises spokesperson told Fox News the material detected was SARS-CoV-2 RNA* and "not [the] live virus."
According to the spokesperson, the findings “do not indicate that transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 was transmitted via these surfaces.” The CDC's report also said the findings did not show whether transmission of the virus was still possible via those surfaces.
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A second Princess Cruise ship, the Grand Princess, had also experienced a coronavirus outbreak with 45 of the ship’s 3,500 passengers testing positive for the virus in March. Princess Cruises has not yet indicated when that vessel would be clear to sail.
Fox News’ Chris Ciaccia contributed to this report.