Officials assure virus screening of thousands of tourists as cruise liners come to Phuket

[webfact]

Officials assure virus screening of thousands of tourists as cruise liners come to Phuket

By The Phuket News

 

Cruise liner tourists arrive on shore in Patong on Jan 29. Photo: Patong Municipality PR

 

PHUKET: Phuket Marine Office Director Wiwat Chitchertwong has confirmed that at least 17 cruise ships will be coming to Phuket in the coming months, with four cruise ships filled with tourists coming to Phuket this week.

 

A total of 4,068 tourists and ship crew and staff will arrive in Phuket on two cruise liners tomorrow (Feb 13), Mr Wiwat revealed at a press briefing held at PPHO office in Phuket Town yesterday.

 

Scheduled to arrive at Phuket Deep Sea Port at 7am is a Seabourn Ovation cruise from Hong Kong carrying 919 people, comprising 487 tourists and 432 crew and ship staff.

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/officials-assure-virus-screening-of-thousands-of-tourists-as-cruise-liners-come-to-phuket-74797.php

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2020-02-13

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[bluesofa]

If the health minister sees that photo, he'll be the one needing hospital attention for stress and his tourettes problem. I can see only five people wearing face masks.

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by bluesofa

[colinneil]

Anutin gonna throw a major wobbler when he sees that photo.

Kick them out..... Kick them out, bloody farangs, i hate them.????????

[geriatrickid]

All it takes are a few infected passengers.  It will be an interesting real time experiment.

[nikmar]

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

[Surelynot]

NIKMAR. Exactly. Wonder if they are Chinese owned. You need Thai logic to work this one out. 

[smedly]

from the full article

 

Chief Thanit added that according to information provided from screening tourist arrivals in Phuket, the number of people suspected of being infected “keeps decreasing”, but declined to elaborate further, not even mentioning how many people in Phuket were currently under observation.

 

Mr Wiwat assured, “There are no confirmed reports of people infected with the virus on board, as some people believe. It is a different cruise ship.”

The reference to the “infected” cruise liners follows Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordering officials to not let any passengers or crew on the Westerdam cruise ship from Japan to disembark at the Laem Chabang port.

That order follows Japan itself not allowing any persons on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship to disembark. The ship, holding off the Japan coast, now has 174 people confirmed as infected with the virus.

The Diamond Princess, which originally had 3,700 passengers and crew on board, has become the largest single cluster of the newly named COVID-19 disease outside its origin in China, where it has now killed more than 1,100 people.

 

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Good to see we are is safe hands in Thailand who are admitting they are not releasing information about infection numbers to the public - well done, keep everybody in the dark and maybe it will just go away

 

Meanwhile, if anyone can make any sensible sense out of this cruise ship situation then it must be way above my head because I cannot  - Westerdam cruise ship had no reports of infection on board but was not allowed to dock - all I can think is it must have been about money and nothing to do with the virus - it just doesn't make any rational sense 

[ThailandRyan]

6 minutes ago, smedly said:

from the full article

 

Chief Thanit added that according to information provided from screening tourist arrivals in Phuket, the number of people suspected of being infected “keeps decreasing”, but declined to elaborate further, not even mentioning how many people in Phuket were currently under observation.

 

Mr Wiwat assured, “There are no confirmed reports of people infected with the virus on board, as some people believe. It is a different cruise ship.”

The reference to the “infected” cruise liners follows Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordering officials to not let any passengers or crew on the Westerdam cruise ship from Japan to disembark at the Laem Chabang port.

That order follows Japan itself not allowing any persons on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship to disembark. The ship, holding off the Japan coast, now has 174 people confirmed as infected with the virus.

The Diamond Princess, which originally had 3,700 passengers and crew on board, has become the largest single cluster of the newly named COVID-19 disease outside its origin in China, where it has now killed more than 1,100 people.

 

=======================================================================

 

Good to see we are is safe hands in Thailand who are admitting they are not releasing information about infection numbers to the public - well done, keep everybody in the dark and maybe it will just go away

 

Meanwhile, if anyone can make any sensible sense out of this cruise ship situation then it must be way above my head because I cannot  - Westerdam cruise ship had no reports of infection on board but was not allowed to dock - all I can think is it must have been about money and nothing to do with the virus - it just doesn't make any rational sense 

Its about the tourist dollars, please do not confuse the "Humanitarian" words that will be used.  These passengers should all be quarantined in order to confirm or deny there may be an infection, unless of course the ship has been at sea for 21 days already without stopping off anywhere.  It is the only way we can be sure this COVID-19 does not continue its spread.

[RichardColeman]

53 minutes ago, nikmar said:

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

Simple - the new arrivals are here to spend money, the other boat just wanted to dock to offload passengers to fly on

[DrTuner]

3 hours ago, nikmar said:

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

Probably exceeds the unofficial threshold of Chinese passengers in order to be considered a gift from Motherland.

[bloodyholly]

3 hours ago, nikmar said:

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

Or the five direct flights from mainland China scheduled to arrive in Phuket today

Edited February 13, 2020 by bloodyholly
Correction

[wavodavo]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Its about the tourist dollars, please do not confuse the "Humanitarian" words that will be used.  These passengers should all be quarantined in order to confirm or deny there may be an infection, unless of course the ship has been at sea for 21 days already without stopping off anywhere.  It is the only way we can be sure this COVID-19 does not continue its spread.

I am not sure about the said 14/21 day incubation period that they all refer to .The first case  was found by a chinese Dr. in JAN.and he caught it himself and died the other day.

[ThaiBunny]

8 minutes ago, wavodavo said:

I am not sure about the said 14/21 day incubation period that they all refer to .The first case  was found by a chinese Dr. in JAN.and he caught it himself and died the other day.

How are those two facts contradictory? It's not even the middle of February now; he could have caught the virus at some point in early January, incubated it for a few days, then fell sick, incubation doesn't mean being sick

[Vacuum]

5 hours ago, nikmar said:

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

Quote

Seabourn Ovation cruise from Hong Kong

They're  Chinese....

[spiekerjozef]

Virus screening equipment:

 

[webfact]

Two cruise ships dock in Phuket today

 

Seabourn Ovation cruise ship ©seatrade-cruise.com

 

Two cruise ships from Malaysia and Singapore, carrying about 2,400 mostly European passengers and crew, docked in Phuket deep-seaport this morning for a brief visit.

 

Provincial health officials boarded the vessels, the Seabourn Ovation and the Quantum of the Seas, to screen passengers with thermal scanners and thermometers for signs of fever prior to being allowed to disembark.

 

Deputy Transport Minister Athirath Rattanaseth said this morning that the Thai Harbour Department had received reports from the two cruise ships, about the health of their passengers and crew, 24 hours before they docked.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/two-cruise-ships-dock-in-phuket-today/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2020-02-13

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[Felt 35]

8 hours ago, nikmar said:

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

Its a bit like Elite visa vs Tourist visa, i.e., Seabourn is regarded upper deck all around and you probably know how quick the red carpet are out here then.

[nasa123]

Well well this ship be in China Feb 1 to Feb 4.   https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Seabourn-Ovation-1165

[Cake Monster]

8 hours ago, nikmar said:

This might be a niave question, but how is this liner different to the liner that has been refused permission to dock.

The Westerdams passengers were mainly " Farang " from Germany, Canada, and Holland.

[Youlike]

18 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

The Westerdams passengers were mainly " Farang " from Germany, Canada, and Holland.

Yes but it also had 19 Thai passengers who had to go into quarantaine when they came from the ship. 

[ronaldo0]

The smell of desperation to calm the the natives before they look for a new chief !! ????