COVID-19: After daughter tests negative, father seeks deportation from quarantined ship

Dinesh Thakkar,  father of Sonali Thakkar, the Indian security officer onboard quarantined Diamond Princess ship, on Saturday made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deport his daughter back home as she has tested negative for Coronavirus. The liner was quarantined on arrival in Yokohama port in Japan on February 3 after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong before it travelled to Japan was diagnosed with the virus.

Bring his daughter home

Sonali has tested negative for COVID-19, the deadly Coronavirus that first surfaced in Wuhan, China last year. "I request the Government of India to deport my daughter from the ship. She has tested negative for coronavirus. The Government of Japan is doing its best. All non-infected Indians should be deported," the father of Sonali told ANI.

Read: Coronavirus Hit Cruise Ship Diamond Princess In Japan Reports 67 New Cases

Read: Indian Embassy: Condition Of 3 Indians Affected By Coronavirus On Japanese Cruise Improves

He also added that all the Indians on board the Diamond Princess who have tested negative for the Coronavirus should be deported. Thakkar, a resident of Mumbai’s adjoining Mira Road area, said that if people who are still healthy and have tested negative for the virus are made to stay on that boat for long, they also might contract the disease soon. That is why he wishes for the return of all the Indians aboard the ship that have tested negative for the virus. “Therefore, other Indians stranded on the ship should be deported soon,” he added.

The ship that is quarantined off the coast of Japan has 3,000 passengers on board including six Indians; and out of a crew of 1,100, 132 are Indians. 218 people so far have been tested positive on the ship including three Indian crew members. Two Indian crew members were found positive of Ccoronavirus on February 12.

Read: Cambodia Gets More Praise For Allowing Cruise Ship To Dock

Read: Condition Of 3 Infected Indians On Board Cruise Ship Off Japanese Coast Improves: Indian Mission

In addition to the two crew members, one more Indian on board has been tested positive for the novel Coronavirus, bringing the tally up to three. According to the Indian Embassy in Tokyo, the condition of all three infected seems to be improving. The Mission is also in close contact with Japanese authorities in an effort to ensure that all the Indians on-board are well looked after and for their early disembarkation after the end of the quarantine period.

(With Inputs from ANI)