"Suffocating In My Cabin": Indian Officer Isolated On Virus-Hit Ship

Begging for fresh air and for passage back home: That's the SOS today from a 24-year-old woman from Mumbai stuck on board the quarantined luxury liner Diamond Princess off Japan that also has the largest cluster of coronavirus positive patients outside of China's Wuhan. Sonali Thakkar who is a member of the security staff on board has been in isolation since February 10. Cramped into a tiny cabin without a window or a balcony, she is hanging in there but clearly in distress. She spoke to NDTV today and asked what is the Indian government waiting for? Why are we not been taken off the ship? Away from the virus that is on board and has infected 454 people already? The US evacuated most of its citizens on Monday. Australia, Italy, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan are also talking to the Japan government about evacuation. When the ship was put into quarantine on 3rd February at Yokohoma, there were 3,700 plus people on board. 454 have tested positive for coronavirus since then. Among them, six of 132 indian crew members on board are positive for the virus. Yesterday, the Indian embassy in Tokyo mailed the remaining 126 crew members asking if they wanted to get off the ship and take a chartered flight back to India even if it meant another 14 days of quarantine after they landed here. Sonali Thakkar says get us out of the ship where the fear of the virus getting you is very real.