The new coronavirus remained on surfaces in cabins of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which housed one of the largest clusters of COVID-19 patients outside of mainland China , up to 17 days after its evacuation, a new CDC report reveals.
On Feb. 3, the cruise ship was quarantined in the port of Yokohama, Japan. Of 3,711 Diamond Princess passengers and crew, 712 tested positive for the new coronavirus. At the time of testing, 381 patients were showing symptoms, and of these, 37 required intensive care, and nine died. People aboard the ship eventually were repatriated by air to their home countries.
Of all the passengers and crew, 428 were American, of which 107 tested positive for COVID-19.
An analysis of the outbreak shows that virus transmission largely occurred among passengers before a quarantine was implemented, but infections among the crew peaked during quarantine.And at the time of testing, 46.5 percent of passengers who were not showing symptoms tested positive for the disease.
"A high proportion of asymptomatic infections could partially explain the high attack rate among cruise ship passengers and crew," the report states.