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TOKYO — Japanese government officials and members of an official expert panel defended a “tough decision” to quarantine more than 3,700 people on board the Diamond Princess, admitting on Monday the quarantine had not been perfect but pushing back against continued criticism of their handling of the situation.

The United States and other countries have effectively judged the quarantine a failure by making their evacuees from the ship undergo an additional 14-day period of isolation on their return home.

Japan, insisting the quarantine was largely effective, has allowed its nationals off the ship to go home without an additional quarantine period, while some Americans who chose not take evacuation flights are now staying in hotels in Japan.

Officials said that the U.S. government had initially agreed with its decision to keep passengers on board the ship, and argued that it would have very difficult to find facilities on land to evacuate everyone even if they had wanted to.

“My view is that although the isolation was somewhat effective to a large extent, it was not perfect,” said Shigeru Omi, head of the Japan Community Healthcare Organization. “The ship was not designed as a hospital.”

But with more than 700 people from the ship having caught the virus, it’s clear the quarantine was far from a success. Eight support staff, including six government officials, a medical worker and an ambulance driver, also caught the virus, while three passengers in their 80s have died.

When the quarantine was imposed, not a single crew member had symptoms of covid-19. Already at least 129 are known to have contracted the virus. Several had pleaded to be let off the ship, fearing the lack of infection controls had put their lives at risk, and some critics say the crew, including many Filipinos and Indians, were treated like second-class citizens.

Omi said Japanese officials were “of course” sympathetic to the human rights of the crew, but said they had to remain on board to serve the passengers. “This is the dilemma,” he said, adding it was a very difficult situation. “All of Japan, we are very grateful to crew members who worked very hard.”

Officials apologized for the fact that 23 Japanese passengers were allowed to disembark even though they only undergone a virus test before the quarantine was imposed on Feb. 5. Yosuke Kita, a senior Health Ministry official, said all had since been contacted, and would be tested again in the next day or two.

‏Source www.washingtonpost.com