JapanBayay Kumar Sarkar, sailor Diamond Princess was isolated off Yokohama, fearing everyone on board will be infected with corona virus in turn.

"We will soon be infected. Everyone is afraid to be next," Sarkar, an Indian sailor, said in a video for help posted on social networking site Facebook in the hope of being helped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. support.

He was one of about 1,000 crew members of the Diamond Princess yacht being isolated at the port of Yokohama, Japan after discovering passengers infected with the new strain of corona virus (nCoV). Of the more than 3,700 people present on the yacht, there are 135 confirmed cases.

Unlike passengers on yachts, sailors do not have private rooms but have to share a room with 4 others. They have to travel throughout the ship to serve food for guests, so contact with many people and increase the risk of infection.

Karey Maniscalco, a real estate agent in St. George, Utah, on a yacht with her husband, said she was nervous as the number of new corona virus infections on board continued to increase. "It makes us nervous," Maniscalco said by phone yesterday.

Increased cases have led the Japanese government to face criticism over its handling of the epidemic, after a Hong Kong passenger who had been on board for five days was diagnosed with corona virus on February 1. The order to isolate the ship from Feb. 5, according to many experts, is no longer effective and may even be dangerous.

"Diamond Princess Yacht is now like a virus training room. This isolation order is unreasonable and very cruel," said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Health Security Center.

The decision to isolate the entire yacht was initially seen as an attempt to achieve two difficult goals at the same time: to both avoid spreading the virus in Japan, while protecting the safety of passengers and crew, after infected people are taken off the yacht and transferred to the hospital.

However, experts say the plan is ineffective, as the number of corona virus infections on yachts is increasing, making Diamond Princess the second most infected place in the world after China. They called on the Japanese government to take urgent action and devise a new response plan.

According to experts, the unprecedented spread of corona virus cannot be prevented by simple solution. The virus can be spread from person to person by coughing and sneezing, but they suspect it has spread through the yacht's ventilation system. They do not rule out the possibility that many people will be infected before the isolation order is executed.

Some argue that instead of forcing all passengers and crews to remain in a cramped space on board the ship, authorities can initially take them ashore to prevent cross-contamination and provide them with additional space. space, for example in hotel isolation.

"The current isolation measure is no longer an effective, morally inappropriate solution. The risk of transmission on board is present when we expose healthy people to contact with infected people. The current approach is no longer effective to stop or prevent the spread of disease, "said Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Health Security Center.

Princess Cruises, the company that operates the Diamond Princess yacht, said that because the quarantine had only been carried out five days ago, it was not unintended to have more cases from previously exposed people. "The quarantine will end on February 19 unless there are unforeseen developments," the company said.

The rising number of infections has prompted many to call for a virus test for all on board. Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said yesterday it is considering the ability to test for people before they leave the yacht to ensure they do not spread the virus in this country and elsewhere.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga later said that testing for all was very difficult in the current situation, but did not specify the reason. Japanese officials last week said the country could afford to test 1,000 people a day.

An unnamed official with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday revealed the infectious disease specialist of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has set out to assist Tokyo to resolve the issue. Medical crisis on the Diamond Princess yacht. This person is not clear whether officials plan to evacuate the yacht.

Passengers on the boat are isolated in a private room of about 15-30 square meters. They were allowed to board the deck to breathe outside air for a short period of time, but to keep their distance from others.

Usually, sailors on Princess Cruises' ships work 10-13 hours a day, 7 days a week, with contracts lasting from 4 to 10 months. If not in a managerial position, the crew members must share a room with 1-3 others. They eat in the cafeteria reserved for crew and spend free time in a separate area with swimming pool, gym, bar and common room.

Maritime lawyer Michael Winkleman, who has filed lawsuits against shipping lines, said yesterday he spoke with passengers and sailors aboard Diamond Princess.

"Many of the crew members contacted me and said they were really scared of being stuck on that yacht. Especially the bar staff, who was responsible for cleaning up the leftovers. moved in from the cabin, "said Winkleman.

New infections on the Diamond Princess yacht yesterday include 45 Japanese, four Australians, one British, one Canadian, three Filipinos, one Ukrainian and 11 Americans, according to a statement from Princess Cruises.

Peter Rabinowitz, co-director of the Center for Global Pandemic Prevention and Health Security at the University of Washington, USA, said traditional preventive measures to keep people away for about 2 m are not feasible, especially for sailors. Group on the yacht. Delivery of food to guests in each cabin also carries a high risk of infection.

"This is a really difficult problem and I think it is challenging the limits of public health measures to prevent disease like this. The spread of corona virus does not seem to stop." It is time to assess whether the control measures are effective and anything that can be done to improve the ability to control the epidemic, "Rabinowitz said.

The source of the virus that has infected newcomers is unknown. Many people can become infected before being isolated and incubated until now symptoms appear. But the virus can also spread if the crew is not adequately trained and has protective equipment, according to experts.

While some passengers are concerned about the yacht's ventilation system, public health experts note that the virus is only transmitted through coughs and sneezes, there is no evidence that they are transmitted via air-conditioning or ventilation.

Michael Mina, infectious disease and epidemiologist at Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, USA, proposed a plan for the Japanese government to control the evacuation of people on board.

"This is a difficult situation. If they can properly and carefully evacuate people on board to take them to isolation in the hotel room, I think that's the optimal solution. But the question is How will they do it? ", Mina said.