--- title: "Thousands Are Quarantined On a Virus-Stricken Luxury Cruise Ship" description: "2,666 and 1,045 crew members have been quarantined on the luxury cruise ship Diamond Princess of the Japanese coast for two weeks." date: "2020-02-05" modified: "2020-02-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/thousands-quarantined-virus-stricken-luxury-cruise-ship" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "coronavirus" - "cruise ship" - "virus" --- # Thousands Are Quarantined On a Virus-Stricken Luxury Cruise Ship ![2,666 and 1,045 crew members have been quarantined on the luxury cruise ship Diamond Princess of the Japanese coast for two weeks.]() *\Image: pete/Victor Tangermann\* An entire luxury cruise ship housing 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members has been quarantined off the Japanese coast for two weeks, [according to the *Washington Post*](). Last week, a passenger from Hong Kong on the vessel Diamond Princess was confirmed to have caught the coronavirus that's swept the globe this year, [claiming the lives]() of hundreds of people. According to Japan's Health Ministry, nine other passengers and one crew member also tested positive, [the *BBC* reported](). Spirits are low as passengers are trapped in their cabins, with limited access to food and drink and in many instances not even a window to the outside. "We’re basically being treated like we’re prisoners and criminals at the moment; that’s how we feel," British passenger Alan Steele told the *Post*. Not everybody, though, is bothered by the impromptu staycation. "We’ve got two weeks’ extra cruise, albeit a confined cruise," passenger David Abel told the *Post* via Skype. "You’ve got to make the best of the situation, haven’t you?" It's not the only cruise ship to have been stranded at sea due to the virus. An Italian cruise ship carrying 6,000 passengers [was held]() off the coast of Italy last week, but only for a few hours. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()