Americans trapped on coronavirus-plagued cruise ship detail financial impact
At least two dozen Americans are said to be among the ship’s infected passengers
Americans trapped on the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship where 174 coronavirus cases have been found, have food and access to fresh air but face uncertainty about when they'll be able to return to their homes, lives and jobs.
Several of the quarantined U.S. passengers stuck in the waters of Japan have family businesses they want to get back to as soon as possible, they told FOX Business.
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"It’s thousands of dollars of income … the work will have to be done eventually," lawyer Matthew Smith told FOX Business. He and his wife, Katherine Codekas, practice law together in Sacramento, California, and have already been on the Diamond Princess a week longer than they had planned.
Japan’s health ministry confirmed 39 new cases on the Diamond Princess on Wednesday. Cases associated with the Diamond Princess make up most of Japan's coronavirus cases, while neighboring mainland China has reported 1,113 deaths among 44,653 confirmed cases.
Passengers stand on the deck of the Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored at Yokohama Port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020. Japan’s health ministry said Wednesday that 39 new cases of a virus have been confirmed on the cruise ship quarantined at the Japanese port. (Yuta Omori/Kyodo News via AP)
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The U.S.-operated Diamond Princess had completed a 14-day tour during which it stopped at Hong Kong and several other Asian ports before returning to Japan. An 80-year-old man who disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus, prompting Hong Kong to notify the ship and Japanese authorities, who then ordered the quarantine and testing.
At least two dozen Americans are said to be among the ship’s infected passengers. That includes Oregon woman Rebecca Frasure, who said she is symptom-free but staying in a Tokyo hospital while her husband, Kent Frasure, remains on the Diamond Princess.
The 14-day quarantine will expire next week, but Smith said he worries even when the quarantine ends that passengers will be held up by additional testing.
One of the few silver linings? Princess Cruises is fully refunding the quarantined passengers and giving them credit for a future trip. Smith said he plans to use the cruise credit. Princess Cruises' response "lessens the blow" financially, Smith said.
He and Codekas are still able to get a little work done, but they've already had to push back hearing and trial dates.
"We’re able to communicate by cellphone most of the time, over the internet," Smith said. "We can communicate with clients and try to do little bits of work."
The internet is also enabling honeymooners Milena Basso and Gaetano Cerullo to communicate with family and media. The New York couple pleaded for help in an interview with Fox News' Ed Henry last week.
"I don't know how many people have been on a cruise, but you can eat a lot of food pretty fast. Once the quarantine happened, what we could eat basically went downhill," Cerullo said.
Workers produce face masks in the workshop of a textile company in Jimo District of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020. (Liang Xiaopeng/Xinhua via AP)
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"The first day when we asked for two bottles of water it took four hours, and the next day we got two cups," he added.
Cerullo's mother, Tracy Cerullo, told FOX Business that she just wants the newlyweds home and has been making do without her son at the family business, Long Island Tree Service.
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"My son’s the foreman, and my customers desperately miss him," Tracy Cerullo said. "We're trying to cover for them, but still … they're our hub."
The Associated Press and FOX Business' Cortney Moore contributed to this report.