It’s increasingly difficult to keep up with the global impact of the coronavirus or Covid-19. Here we try to give you the latest updates as the industry (and the world) struggles to react and cope. A Japanese man and woman who contracted the Covid-19 virus on board Diamond Princess have died. One died from the coronavirus and the other from pneumonia. The passengers were in their 80s and were believed to have been infected before the quarantine began on the ship. They were being treated in hospitals after being taken off the ship last week.
CANADA
According to Canada’s foreign affairs minister healthy Canadians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship will shortly be heading home after weeks under quarantine. The ship, docked in Yokohama, Japan, has seen the largest outbreak of the virus outside China, with 634 passengers having tested positive at last count.
Among the infected are 47 Canadians who will have to remain in Japan for treatment.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Wednesday that passengers would be screened Thursday evening, Japan time – mid-day in North America.
The passengers will each be issued a face mask and coloured wrist band before they are ushered off the ship to the Haneda Airport, according to a letter from government officials to the evacuees on board the ship.
Those who are cleared to travel will be taken to Canadian Forces Base Trenton for further screening before they are placed under another two-week quarantine at the Nav Centre in Cornwall, Ont.
The plane is set to take off from at 3:30 a.m. Japan time and land at CFB Trenton at 1:30 a.m. Eastern time, about 14 hours later.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said there was a chance that those who tested negative for the virus and show no signs of symptoms may be released from quarantine early under the discretion of Canada’s top public-health doctor.
Hajdu said Canada will be keeping its eye on the examination of how the virus was handled on board the ship, especially as it relates to Canada’s own upcoming tourist season.
“There has been obviously concern about the practices on board the ship that have potentially led to the increased spread of the coronavirus on the ship,” she said, adding that she also has empathy for Japanese officials who had to handle the quarantine of 3,000 people docked off a major city.
Canada has already started to prepare for how it will deal with tourists in light of the potential spread of the virus this year, she said.
As for the more than 200 Canadian evacuees and their families who have been serving out their two week quarantine at CFB Trenton, none have developed symptoms after their arrival from Wuhan, China, the centre of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The government is now working to help facilitate their return to their homes.
THE UK
UK Government confirmed an evacuation flight for the 74 British nationals on board the ship, which was put into quarantine in Japan two weeks ago with 3,700 people on board.
The flight will leave Tokyo on Friday.
The Foreign Office said details have been sent to those who have already registered for the flight.
“We urge other British nationals still seeking to leave on this flight to contact us; we will continue to support British nationals who are remaining in Japan,” said the FCO.
At least 621 people on the ship have tested positive for the virus.
Some passengers from other countries who tested negative have been leaving the ship this week.
AUSTRALIA
Qantas confirmed that it is suspending some of its international and domestic flights until at least May due to the coronavirus outbreak.
It said the outbreak would hit its earnings by up to A$150 ($135.6) million and could be deeper if the crisis continues.
Qantas has already suspended its Sydney to Shanghai service and has halved the number of flights from Sydney to Hong Kong.
The airline was careful to stress that the 15% cut in capacity was confined to Asian routes and there would be no reduction in its worldwide schedules, such as flights to and from the UK and US.
For the six months to December 31, Qantas reported a profit after tax of A$445 ($390) million, 3.9% down year on year.
UKRAINE
Ukraine’s effort to quarantine more than 70 people evacuated from China over the new virus outbreak plunged into chaos Thursday as local residents opposing the move engaged in violent clashes with police.
Buses carrying evacuees were finally able to reach the designated place of quarantine after hours of clashes.
Earlier, several hundred residents in Ukraine’s Poltava region blocked the road to a sanitarium where the evacuees are to be quarantined because they feared they could become infected. Demonstrators put up road blocks, burned tires and resisted riot police who moved to clear access.
More than 10 people were detained, and Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov personally visited the site of the protests to try to calm the crowd down and urged protesters “not to fall for provocations and be understanding of the necessity for these temporary measures.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy weighed in, saying the protests showed “not the best side of our character.” He tried to reassure people that the quarantined evacuees wouldn’t pose any danger to residents of the village of Novi Sanzhary.
Municipal legislators in the village, however, vowed to continue opposing the evacuation, saying that the sanitarium’s sewage system is linked to the one in the village.
“We can’t allow putting the health and life of local residents at risk, and demand that top officials take urgent moves to prevent people from China from being put here,” they said in a statement.
EVACUATIONS CONTINUE
In the early hours of Thursday, a plane with 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreign nationals took off from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak that has infected more than 75,000 people worldwide and killed over 2,100.
Those evacuated included people from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama and other countries.
The plane stopped in Kazakhstan to drop off Kazakh passengers. Later, it sought to land in Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, but could not due to bad weather conditions.
Instead it flew to Kyiv to refuel, and eventually arrived in Kharkiv.
Also Thursday, the Russian Embassy in Japan said that two more Russians aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan have been diagnosed with the virus. That raises to three the number of Russians on the ship confirmed to have the virus.
The two will be transferred to a hospital in Japan for treatment, according to the embassy.
In Slovenia, authorities said two of six Slovenian citizens who were on the cruise ship have been hospitalized in Japan after testing positive for the virus. The four others have tested negative. Two of them have arrived back in Slovenia and will be quarantined at home for two weeks.
The Diamond Princess has been docked in the Yokohama port near Tokyo since Feb. 4, when 10 people on board tested positive for the virus. So far 621 cases of the disease, which has been named COVID-19, have been confirmed among the the Diamond Princess’s original 3,711 people on board.
Russia so far has reported only two cases of the disease on its soil. Two Chinese nationals diagnosed with the virus and hospitalized in two different regions of Siberia in late January have recovered and have been released from hospitals.
TRAVEL EVENT CANCELLED
The organizers of the inaugural IBTM Asia Pacific, due to take place in Singapore in April, have decided to cancel this year’s event due to the coronavirus. Instead the event, devoted to the meeting, incentives and events industry, will be held in April 2021.
Reed Travel Exhibitions said the decision was made “following the latest advice from its partners regarding the coronavirus outbreak and after ‘in-depth discussions’ with customers and hosted buyers from the region and globally.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly; our customers, partners and team in Singapore have worked incredibly hard on the event and while it is disappointing to postpone, it’s imperative that we prioritise the health and safety of everyone involved,” said Shane Hannam, portfolio director, IBTM Events.
“We are committed to Singapore as a host city and look forward to returning to the region very soon to meet with as many customers and partners as possible.” He said.
Other trade shows are stepping up advice and putting measures into place over coronavirus concerns.
The organizers of next week’s Business Travel Show in London and next month’s ITB show in Berlin say they are ‘well prepared’ to deal with cases.