(Photo: AFP)
Passengers from China's Hong Kong region on a cruise ship quarantined in
Japan due to coronavirus thanked the Chinese Embassy in Japan for
sending medicine after 174 passengers were confirmed infected.
The ship, Diamond Princess,
which has 3,711 passengers and staff and arrived at the port of
Yokohama on February 3, has been kept in quarantine after a passenger on
board from Hong Kong was found to be infected with the virus. Test
results as of Wednesday show 174 confirmed patients on the ship, some
from Japan, China, the US and Canada, according to information provided
by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Wednesday.
The
Hong Kong passengers sent a "thank you" letter on Wednesday to the
Chinese Embassy in Japan for the timely delivery of life-saving medicine
in coordination of other departments, the embassy said.
"Thank
you for everything you've done for us! Thanks to the great motherland
for letting us be proud to be Chinese, because we have the support of
our strong motherland when we meet difficulties abroad," said the
letter.
The letter was sent after the embassy received help
messages from Hong Kong residents on board since February 6 saying many
elderly passengers, who suffered from diseases such as diabetes and high
blood pressure were in urgent need of medicine. The embassy delivered
the first batch of medicine to the ship on Monday, Zhan Kongchao, consul
general of the embassy, told the Global Times.
"This is our duty. The embassy did what it should do," Zhan said.
About
one week after the quarantine, the passengers sent a handwritten letter
in Japanese seeking assistance from the Japanese government, Japanese
media outlet Akahata Shimbun reported on Tuesday.
The letter
mentioned six requests, including changing bed sheets which haven't been
cleaned for nearly a week; sending medical professionals since the
passengers' health has deteriorated; and providing appropriate
information since the information on board was insufficient and causing
anxiety.
The letter made a splash on Chinese social media with
many netizens expressing their deep concern and care for the passengers,
especially as Japan has been helping China fight the virus.
Several
related topics trended on Chinese Twitter-like Sina Weibo. The topic
"cruise ship quarantined in Japan with 3,700 passengers" has been viewed
150 million times as of press time.
"Sorry to hear that," a
netizen said, urging the Japanese government and other medical
organizations to save the passengers as soon as possible, which has been
widely echoed by many other netizens.
Some said they are searching for ways to donate medical supplies to the passengers.
"Stay strong Japan, stay safe Japan" was another typical comment by netizens.
