Macau residents still on quarantined cruise ship

Five Macau residents on board a quarantined cruise ship in Japan were not able to fly back to Hong Kong yesterday on one of two chartered flights after some of them reported “close contact” with people infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus.
According to information disclosed by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), at least two of the five Macau residents on the Diamond Princess cruise ship had been scheduled to fly back yesterday, until it was realized that they had come into “close contact with certain patients on the ship.”
Subsequently, the Japanese authorities decided to prevent the residents from leaving the cruise ship. According to the MGTO, all five Macau residents are still on board the quarantined cruise ship, but it is unclear when they will be allowed to disembark.
Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported that a second chartered flight scheduled to leave Japan yesterday afternoon had been delayed, “amid uncertainty about when Japanese officials will issue the papers people need to leave.”
The first flight, carrying 106 people, arrived in Hong Kong early yesterday, with all passengers transported to a newly-built public housing estate to face a 14-day quarantine period. About 100 more Hong Kong residents remain on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) confirmed yesterday that although the Macau residents did not return on the first flight chartered by the Hong Kong government, “there is no indication so far that they have been infected by the new coronavirus.”
“Upon arrival in Macau, they will be placed under medical observation and isolation for a period of 14 days in a designated location according to the requirements of the Macau Health Bureau,” said the GGCT in a written statement to the Times. DB/AL