President Jokowi: 74 Diamond Princess Indonesian Crew to be Evacuated Immediately

President Jokowi takes photo with workers when visiting nurseries in Pelalawan Regency, Riau Province, Friday (21/2). (Photo: Ibrahim/PR)

As the quarantine period of Diamond Princess Cruise Ship has ended, 74 Indonesian nationals who worked as the ship’s crews will be evacuated soon, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has announced.

“They will be evacuated immediately. We are currently waiting for the Japanese Government’s response to some of our requests,” President Jokowi said on Friday (21/2).

For the record, the US company-owned Diamond Princess cruise ship was placed under a mandatory quarantine in the waters off Yokohama in Japan since early January over fears of contamination of a passenger who disembarked from Hong Kong and may have been infected by the Corona virus (COVID-19).

Among 3,711 people on board, 78 Indonesian nationals were working as the ship’s crew and four of them were then diagnosed with Covid-19, while the remaining 74 people were in healthy condition.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy has previously stated that the Government was weighing various options to evacuate the crew, either by a Navy ship or by plane.

“We are waiting for the direction from the President,” Muhadjir said, adding that any evacuation method will follow the procedure determined by the World Health Organization (WHO). (RSF/EN)

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas