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My Interview With A Survivor of the Diamond Princess Virus Outbreak
Her experience during the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China
On January 20th the cruise ship ‘Diamond Princess’ set sail from Japan. The cruise was meant to end on February 4th, but instead the guests were quarantined the day they were meant to be disembarking the ship in Yokahama.
Little did anyone onboard know, but the ship was about to become the site of the biggest coronavirus outbreak outside of China according to Business Insider.
One confirmed positive infection spread to hundreds of others as guests were quarantined and transported together in what has become a controversial lesson in how not to handle an emergency situation.
Given the lack of precedent, it’s easy to see how the staff on the ground reacted to a situation they had no idea to handle; and from a distance it’s easy to point fingers and say how it should have happened.
One person who was actually there and was a guest onboard the Diamond Princess is a woman who was a work colleague of mine many years ago.
A mutual friend re-connected us and I was able to chat with her from her quarantined room in Darwin, Australia. For the sake of potential future litigation, I’ve agreed not to use her name for this interview.
