The "Diamond Princess" cruise ship reportedly set off with more than 3,000 passengers, only to have nearly a dozen of them end up testing positive with coronavirus just days later. The ship was brought back to port, but everyone onboard is now being forced to stay there, except for the confirmed cases which were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
As the cruise liner awaits some kind of next step or "all clear," health authorities in nearby Hong Kong have issued a public warning that coronavirus could "spread widely through Hong Kong" as well, seeing as how the territory directly abuts mainland China.
With three newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus in Hong Kong, bringing its total number up to 21, there are widespread concerns that the area government needs to immediately close all ports of entry between Hong Kong and China to ensure public safety.
As we reported, a major hospital workers union is issuing similar calls for the Hong Kong government to act swiftly, otherwise its members will refuse to work, bringing the local health care system to a grinding halt.
"It is highly probable the four were infected locally, so there could be invisible chains of infection happening within communities," stated Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection.
"We are not ruling out a large spread [of the virus] in the future."
Be sure to listen to the episode (below) of the Health Ranger Report with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he discusses the bio-engineered nature of novel coronavirus:
First coronavirus death in Hong Kong ignites even more unrest among striking hospital workers
Hong Kong recently reported its first death from coronavirus around the same time that local hospital workers walked out by the thousands in protest of their government's inaction in response to the pandemic.
Reports indicate that local Hong Kong hospitals are having to massively cut back services as hospital workers are busy marching in the streets rather than caring for patients.
While most of Hong Kong's land and sea crossings are now closed, there are two that remain open, which locals say is unacceptable considering that the Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou is located right across the border.
There are also two more reported cases of coronavirus in people living in Hong Kong who didn't even travel to Wuhan, which "indicates significant risk of community transmission," including a "large-scale" outbreak, according to officials monitoring the situation.
"Important services, critical operations have been affected," including cancer treatment centers and newborn care facilities, lamented Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's leader, about how the hospital workers strike is negatively impacting the local community.
"So, I'm appealing to those who are taking part in this action: Let's put the interests of the patients and the entire public health system above all other things."
But those striking have a different outlook on the situation as they don't want to be overloaded by coronavirus patients due to government inaction on fully sealing Hong Kong's borders to prevent even more potentially infected individuals from entering and spreading the disease.
"Usually when there is any bad news regarding cruise ships, the cruise industry starts pumping out commercials galore about the fun in the sun," wrote one commenter at The Epoch Times about the cruise ship situation.
"Haven't seen that this time. Perhaps they don't want to cruise right now, either."
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