Scientists have weighed in behind families of people trapped on the coronavirus-riddled cruise ship in Japan to slam the two-week quarantine.
Steve Abel said his recently infected British parents David and Sally had been ‘failed’ during their isolation aboard the Diamond Princess where the number of diagnoses today hit 542 and continues to climb.
He also claimed they were ‘not getting any communication’ from Whitehall and were ‘feeling very unloved’ despite repeated pleas for help.
And experts have now lined up to tear into the quarantine, which they said should have never been allowed to happen and was the worst possible course of action.
Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the New York University School of Medicine, said: ‘Boats are notorious places for being incubators for viruses.
‘It’s only morally justified to keep people on the boat if there are no other options.’
Mr and Ms Abel were among 88 people who tested positive for the virus in Japan today, taking the number of infections on board the ship to 542.
They are now being taken into a further quarantine on the mainland just a day before their stay on board the Diamond Princess was due to end.
The Abels will also be unable to join an evacuation flight which the British embassy is preparing today amid growing pressure after the US evacuated 340 of its citizens.
Steve Abel urged the Foreign Office to rescue his parents despite the positive test but officials have already quashed those hopes.
‘We are ensuring those who have been diagnosed with coronavirus receive the best possible care in Japan and are organising a flight back to the UK for other British nationals on the Diamond Princess as soon as possible,’ an FCO spokesman said.
The couple’s son has also blasted the ‘failure’ of Japan’s quarantine measures after the number of patients spiralled despite the two-week lockdown.
He said he could hear his father vomiting when he spoke to his parents the phone, although he thought it might be ‘shock’ rather than a virus symptom.
The lockdown officially ends tomorrow, but Japanese health officials expect that only around 500 passengers will leave the ship on Wednesday.
Any passengers who were close to virus patients will have to finish a 14-day quarantine from the date of their last contact, while Japan says it may take days to complete the departure process for the others.
British cruise ship passenger David Abel and his wife Sally (pictured in their cabin on the Diamond Princess) have tested positive for coronavirus in Japan
Steve Abel (pictured today) said his parents David and Sally Abel were ‘not getting any communication’ from Whitehall and were ‘feeling very unloved’
The Diamond Princess (pictured today) remains in lockdown and hundreds face a longer spell in quarantine even after the official incubation period ends tomorrow
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of America’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told USA Today that the quarantine process had ‘failed’.
‘I’d like to sugarcoat it and try to be diplomatic about it, but it failed. People were getting infected on that ship,’ he said.
‘Something went awry in the process of the quarantining on that ship. I don’t know what it was, but a lot of people got infected on that ship.’
When asked about the British Government’s treatment of his parents, Steve Abel described it as ‘appalling’.
‘They haven’t done anything,’ he told BBC Breakfast.
‘They aren’t communicating with us, the Foreign Office have my number, my wife’s number, my brother’s number, my sister’s number and they haven’t got back to us on anything and we have been calling them every day for four or five days.’
He added: ‘They are very high-spirited people. There are cracks in the armour and they are getting down.’
‘My mum breaks down in tears frequently, my dad is short-tempered.
‘They are not getting any communication from our country, so they are in the dark and feeling very unloved.’
Expanding his point on ITV’s This Morning, he said: ‘What I want now is for the UK authorities to still go and get them.
‘I know they tested positive but I’d like it ideally if whatever they’re going to be doing in Japan, why can’t that happen here in the UK where my dad can get the right kind of food, all the right treatments?’.
Describing conditions on the ship, Steve Abel said: ‘The quarantine in Japan has been a failure, that is obvious, so [they] are obviously going to have to go through it again.
‘I would like them to go through it here where the food is more suitable for my dad.’
He added: ‘I’m not actually that worried about the virus – looking at the recovery stats. It is more about the stress, the diet.
‘The recovery rate is actually quite good, but he’s type 2 diabetic, insulin dependent, and he’s also got a tooth infection.
‘I’ve had messages from people all over the world who are concerned, saying this is more serious than the virus itself for him, having an infection and being diabetic at the same time.’
Passengers are seen on the Diamond Princess today where a two-week lockdown is due to end tomorrow
Clothes hang out to dry on a balcony of the Diamond Princess where passengers have been confined to their cabins for two weeks
David Abel earlier revealed the couple’s diagnosis on Facebook, where he has been providing regular updates from on board the ship but now expects a ‘time of quiet’.
‘We have been proved positive and leaving for hospital soon. Blessings all,’ the 74-year-old said.
In the last of his regular Facebook videos, Mr Abel had said he was ‘confident we will test negative’ after medics screened the couple for the virus.
After receiving his test results, Mr Abel initially said the pair were heading for hospital but later said they were destined for a ‘hostel’.
‘That’s where partners are sent waiting out their quarantine. No phone, no wi-fi and no medical facilities,’ he claimed.
Mr Abel had also been leading calls for London to organise a rescue flight after the US pulled out its citizens and other countries lined up similar flights.
After growing frustration from British passengers, the UK embassy in Tokyo said today it was hastily making arrangements to repatriate them.
‘Given the conditions on board, we are working to organise a flight back to the UK for British nationals on the Diamond Princess as soon as possible,’ the embassy said.
‘Our staff are contacting British nationals on board to make the necessary arrangements.’
Virgin supremo Richard Branson had said his company was ‘in discussions’ with the Government over whether he could help those stranded.
Liberal Democrat acting leader Ed Davey condemned the government for a ‘lack of support’ for UK citizens which he said was making Britain a ‘global laughing stock’.
‘While other countries seem ready and able to act for their people, our ministers have been caught napping and left British citizens stuck in limbo for weeks, with no idea when they will be able to get home,’ he said.
‘As soon as it was clear that people could be repatriated, Ministers should have acted as the US did on Sunday.’
An angler fishes close to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has around 3,000 people quarantined onboard
Japanese authorities confirmed another 88 cases today, bringing the total on the ship to 542 out of 2,404 people who have been tested.
Sixty-five of those who tested positive were not yet showing symptoms.
Some 169 people had tested positive in the previous two days, meaning that the total has almost doubled in the last 72 hours.
Nearly 3,000 people are still on board the Diamond Princess and were told that their quarantine would end on February 19, which is tomorrow.
The captain told passengers today that disembarkation would begin at around 10.30am local time on Wednesday.
However, Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said the process of leaving the ship would last two to three days.
‘We have done tests for everyone’ on board the ship, he told reporters.
‘Some results have already come out… and for those whose test results are already clear, we are working to prepare disembarkation from the 19th,’ he said.
Many disembarking will be Japanese passengers, a health ministry official said.
‘They will go home on public transport but they will be taken by bus to places such as stations,’ he added.
Those who leave the ship will not face any restrictions, the official said. ‘They won’t be forbidden to go out.’
But not all those who have tested negative will be getting off immediately because several countries have said they will evacuate their citizens from the ship, and many of those being offered repatriation are likely to stay on board until evacuation flights arrive.
In a letter sent to passengers, authorities explained that some test results would take time to process and that therefore ‘we plan the disembarkation to take place from February 19 to 21’.
‘If you and your roommate are both negative and have no fever of respiratory symptoms, you will be able to prepare for disembarkation,’ the letter said.
However, passengers were informed that ‘not everyone may be offered a chance to disembark before the end of the quarantine period’.
Passengers who had close contact with the more than 450 virus patients on board will have to finish a 14-day quarantine from the date they last saw them.
The ship’s crew, many of whom have been supervising guests and delivering food, are also expected to observe another quarantine after the last guests have left.
Medical staff wearing protective suits are seen at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal where the Diamond Princess is anchored
A bus carrying US citizens leaves the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port early yesterday after Washington organised an airlift
US passengers wearing masks look out from the window of a coach which took them from the Yokohama port to an airport from which they flew across the Pacific
Mr and Mrs Abel were among 3,711 people taken into quarantine when the ship arrived in Yokohama two weeks ago.
Mr Abel quickly won praise for his good-humoured Facebook videos which became a valuable source of information for the world’s media.
Japanese authorities ordered medical tests after an 80-year-old passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong last month was found to have the virus.
Passengers have been confined to their cabins amid a spiralling number of cases which has sparked growing criticism of Japanese authorities.
More than 1,800 people have now been screened for the virus on the Diamond Princess with more than 400 of them testing positive.
As a result, the cruise liner is now the largest cluster of virus cases outside mainland China.
Another Briton, Alan Steele, was separated from his wife Wendy and taken off the ship ten days ago after testing positive for the virus.
A total of 78 Britons were on board the ship when it was taken into quarantine, it is believed.
More than 300 Americans were evacuated from the ship early on Monday, among them over a dozen who have tested positive for the virus.
The evacuees are now facing another 14-day quarantine after they landed in North America yesterday.
The two British tourists are among 169 people confirmed to have the virus over the last 48 hours, taking the total on board the Diamond Princess (pictured) to more than 500
Canada said today it had ‘secured a chartered flight to repatriate Canadians on board the Diamond Princess’ but gave no further details.
There were 256 Canadians on board the ship, with 32 so far testing positive for the virus.
South Korea will send a presidential aircraft on Tuesday to fly back four nationals and one Japanese spouse, an official told reporters.
There are 14 South Koreans on board in total, but the other ten have declined to be evacuated because they live in Japan, the Yonhap news agency reported.
While foreign governments have couched their decision to remove citizens as an attempt to reduce the burden on Japanese authorities, many have interpreted the evacuations as criticism of Tokyo’s handling of the situation.
The US and Australia have told citizens that if they decline repatriation and an additional 14-day quarantine, they will not be allowed home for at least two weeks, suggesting they do not believe the ship-based quarantine has worked.
Experts say that cruise ships are vulnerable to the spread of viruses because of the high number of elderly passengers who are confined together.
A study by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has found that the elderly and sick are most at risk from the virus.
In addition, passengers who have shelled out large sums of money for a holiday may not want to flag up their medical problems and jeopardise their trips.
Health officials in protective suits on a shuttle bus transporting U.S. passengers who have chosen to leave the Diamond Princess cruise ship
There are nearly 3,000 people on board the Diamond Princess, which has been held at a port near Yokohama, Japan, since February 3 with passengers not allowed to leave
Japan has also confirmed at least 65 cases domestically, including many involving people with no history of recent travel to China.
Authorities have said the virus is being transmitted locally now, and have asked citizens to avoid crowds and non-essential gatherings.
On Monday, the amateur portion of the Tokyo Marathon, which had been expected to attract some 38,000 runners, was cancelled. Only elite athletes will now be able to take part.
The public celebration for Emperor Naruhito’s birthday has also been scrapped over virus fears.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 1,800 people in total with nearly 72,500 people confirmed to have the virus.
The official death toll in China hit 1,868 today after another 98 people died, mostly in Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei.
Five people have died outside mainland China – in France, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The virus is believed to have emerged in a market selling wild animals in Wuhan last year before spreading across China.