It is a given that the lives of cruise ship passengers are given priority ahead of the crew members. But when a crew member falls sick, they should not be left to fend for themselves.
A Japanese crew member on the Diamond Princess cruise ship still cannot expunge that feeling from his mind.
In February, while the ship was docked in Yokohama, passengers were ordered to stay in their cabins due to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on the ship. From around Feb. 5, his duties included working at the onboard call center, where he was contacted by passengers and crew members who were feeling unwell.
"I've got a fever."
"I want to see a doctor quickly."
The phones barely stopped ringing.
He would contact the doctors providing assistance on the Diamond Princess and ask them to check an unwell person, who would then undergo a PCR test if necessary, and be taken ashore if the test came back positive. However, most crew members were in their 20s and 30s, and about 80% of the passengers were elderly. Perhaps this is why crew members tended to wait longer to be seen by a doctor.
"When will a doctor come and see me?" many colleagues pleaded to him. "Please do something to help me."
He prodded the government's headquarters in charge of infection countermeasures on the ship, and on Feb. 14, doctors started visiting passengers more regularly.
Many crew members share a cabin with a colleague. Several days after passengers had been confined to their cabins, his roommate also developed a temperature of more than 37 C and a sore throat. The roommate was ordered to stay in his cabin due to the possibility he might have caught the virus.
He was terrified that he might end up spreading the infection to others on the ship. There were no spare cabins he could move to, and he had to keep working while staying in the shared room. It was only after his PCR test came back negative that he could finally sigh in relief.
He disembarked from the Diamond Princess in late February. He then stayed for about two weeks in a government-arranged facility in Saitama Prefecture and his condition was closely watched. He returned home after that.
In mid-May, He received a letter from the company operating the Diamond Princess. The letter contained a message from the company president expressing appreciation for his actions onboard and a commemorative badge as a gift. He felt proud and wanted to once again work on the ship.
However, some doubts linger. Face masks were about the only protective gear given to the crew. He even served infected passengers while only lightly protected from the virus. Crew members walked in the same areas as Self-Defense Forces personnel and the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, but the difference in their attire was glaring: The crew wore their regular uniforms and masks, while the others worked wearing white protective suits.
"Why did the infection spread on the ship?" He asked. "I think the Japanese government and the cruise ship operator should carefully examine what happened to prevent this from occurring again."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
