An American lawyer and his wife are refusing to evacuate the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan — because they say they feel safer aboard.
Matthew Smith, who has been quarantined on the Diamond Princess with his wife, Katherine, since early February, said he plans to stay put as the US on Sunday began to remove hundreds of American passengers from the boat.
“Incredibly disappointed that the U.S. Government has decided to throw a monkey wrench into the quarantine we have maintained here on board the Diamond Princess,” Smith tweeted.
Smith said he’s skeptical about the government’s plan to evacuate citizens on two flights to the US, since some of the travelers could be sick.
The evacuated passengers were set to be screened for symptoms before boarding the planes back home.
“If we stay on board through next week, we will be tested and will likely come up negative,” he tweeted.
“But the U.S. Government instead wants to take us off without testing, fly us back to the U.S. with a bunch of other untested people, and then stick us in 2 more weeks of quarantine? How does that make any sense at all?”
Source: https://nypost.com/2020/02/16/american-lawyer-wife-refuse-to-leave-coronavirus-cruise-ship/
