From ‘happiest ship on the seas’ to total lockdown: Life on coronavirus-hit ship

The Diamond Princess cruise ship and its nearly 3700 passengers and crew remain in quarantine off the coast of Yokohama, Japan, after a passenger with coronavirus flew from Wuhan to Tokyo and spread the disease to others on board.

Gay Courter, 75, was among the thousands of passenges who were all told at 7am on Wednesday they may face two weeks in lockdown to contain the outbreak.

Gay Courter, an American writer, is on the Diamond Princess cruise ship which is in quarantine off the coast of Yokohama, Japan.

Two Australians have caught the coronavirus on the cruise ship and there are fears more than 200 others have been exposed to the deadly disease.

Ms Courter, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author, was travelling with close friends, including her family doctor and his wife.

The American said they were awoken at 7am by the captain announcing the quarantine and that it was more than six hours before anyone got any food.

The view from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has been quarantined over coronavirus fears off the coast of Japan.Credit:Facebook – Philip R. Courter

She said they adored Japan and that she had lived in the country as a young child.  After spending a week in Tokyo, the plan was to visit a range of destinations after disembarking, but that leg of their trip would now be cancelled.

"Putting this into perspective we are in a lovely cabin with a balcony, food will be arriving, and the most important thing is for us to stay as healthy as possible," she said.

"We are hoping that everyone who has contracted the disease on the ship is able to recover completely and that nobody gets into further problems for lack of medication or heart problems due to stress.

"We have lived through severe hurricanes and floods at our home in Florida and sometimes the stress has more effects than the actual incident."

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is aware of the situation, and is urgently seeking information on the welfare of the Australians on board.

The ship has been placed in quarantine for 14 days, and the infected passengers are being treated on mainland Japan.

Japanese doctors are on board checking every passenger’s temperature, in a bid to contain a potential mass outbreak.

It’s believed more than 200 Australian citizens are on the ship, which had a 14-day itinerary around Japan and Hong Kong.

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