As many as 188 Indonesian nationals who work aboard the World Dream cruise ship are to be evacuated immediately and transported to Sebaru Kecil Island in Thousand Islands regency for observation.
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Laksana Agung Saputra/Mediana/Rhama Purna Jati/ Tatang Mulyana Sinaga
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government is preparing to evacuate 188 Indonesian crew members from the World Dream cruise ship, which has halted operations due to the Covid-19 viral outbreak and is now anchored in the Johor Strait between Malaysia and Singapore. The Indonesian crew will be quarantined on Sebaru Kecil Island in Thousand Islands regency, Jakarta.
The Indonesian Navy’s Dr. Soeharso Hospital Ship is en route to collect the 188 Indonesian citizens. "We decided to evacuate them from the World Dream and observe them according to the procedures established by the TNI [Indonesian Military]," Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said on Monday (24/2/2020), after a meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta.
Reuters reported that the World Dream cruise ship was turned away from docking in Taiwan before it docked in Hong Kong in early February. As many as 1,800 passengers had disembarked, but the crew remained on board. Three Chinese citizens who traveled on the ship on 19-24 Jan. tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The World Dream was quarantined in Hong Kong on 9 Feb. 2020. Dream Cruises, which operates the cruise ship, said that it was cooperating with local authorities to repatriate the crew of the World Dream to their home countries. It also claimed that World Dream was declared coronavirus-free from the Hong Kong Department of Health, including the 188 Indonesian crewmen aboard the ship.
The government is deploying the Indonesian Navy to bring the Indonesian crewmen home on the Navy’s Dr. Soeharso Hospital Ship, with set sail from Surabaya on Sunday (23/2). The crewmen are to be transferred at sea from the World Dream on Wednesday (26/2) in the Durian Strait, Riau. The hospital ship carrying the 188 Indonesian citizens is expected to arrive at Sebaru Kecil Island on Friday (28/2).
Sebaru Kecil Island
Muhadjir said that Sebaru Kecil Island was uninhabited and difficult to reach because of high waves, but had abundant water sources. The government would also send a psychological team to provide trauma counseling. The observation procedures for the 188 Indonesian crewmen would be the same as that for the Indonesian evacuees in Natuna, the Riau Islands. "They will be observed for 14 days from their arrival on Sebaru Kecil Island," he said.
Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto reiterated that Indonesia would observe the 188 Indonesian crewmen “from zero” following the 14 days they had already spent in quarantine in Hong Kong.
Regarding Indonesian citizens on board the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan, Muhadjir said that the government was in communication with Japan. "The government is being careful, [and takes] full responsibility for securing the Indonesian citizens on the two cruise ships," he said.
The Diamond Princess, carrying around 3,700 passengers and crew, was quarantined in Yokohama from 3 to 19 Feb. A 60-year-old woman who disembarked from the ship after the quarantine period tested positive for Covid-19 in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. At least nine Indonesian passengers have also tested positive for Covid-19.
According to Terawan, the government was taking every precaution because the virulence of the coronavirus had increased to 20 percent. "We are trying to find the best way so there will be no new epicenter," he said.
Regarding the Japanese man who tested positive for Covid-19 after his return from Indonesia, the Health Ministry’s secretary-general of disease prevention and control, Achmad Yurianto, said that the ministry was pursuing an epidemiological investigation – or active surveillance –with local health offices. He did not provide any further details.