Princess Cruises president criticized for blowing kisses to ship evacuees

A recent video was uploaded on Twitter showing Princess Cruises President Jan Shwarts greeting passengers after they disembarked the Diamond Princess after their long period of quarantine on the ship amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The video was criticized as it showcases Shwarts enthusiastically gesturing to staff and passengers as well as 'blowing kisses' towards them.

Princess Cruises under fire

Diamond Princess housed more than half of all the coronavirus infected outside mainland China and recently announced the death of two passengers who were infected with the virus. The video that was uploaded on Princess Cruise's official Twitter handle is set to upbeat and enthusiastic music and shows Schwartz posing and clicking pictures with passengers as well as listening to their concerns.

The video also shows Schartwz giggling as passengers disembarked from the ship. Recently, two passengers who were onboard the quarantined ship have died after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The news was announced by Japan’s health ministry on Thursday. The victims — an 87-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman — reportedly with underlying health conditions, were among more than 620 passengers who contracted the disease while onboard the Diamond Princess.

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The infected who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship account for more than half of all the cases outside mainland China, the World Health Organization had said on Wednesday. Despite having housed more than half of the worlds coronavirus infected cases, the previously quarantined ship, the Diamond Princess is already preparing to set sail once again. According to reports the cruise ship plans to set sail again as early as April 29 after undergoing thorough cleaning.

(Image Credit:@PrincessCruises/Twitter)

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