Fifth Diamond Princess passenger dies in Japan; MSC ship gets 'clean bill of health'

A British man has become the fifth person to die after spending time quarantined on Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed in an emailed statement to USA TODAY.

While he is the fifth person to die from after being quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess for the coronavirus outbreak, he is the first person from his country to succumb to the virus, according to the BBC.

The newest fatality is reflected in Johns Hopkins data.

USA TODAY has reached out to the U.K. government and Princess Cruises for more information.

Four other Diamond Princess passengers – all elderly Japanese citizens – have died from the virus in recent weeks.

Fellow British passenger David Abel, who likened the quarantined ship to a "floating prison" in a Facebook post earlier this month, revealed last week that he and his wife, who booked the cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, both tested positive for COVID-19 and are hospitalized in Fujisawa, Japan.

MSC Meraviglia cleared to disembark for port call in Cozumel, Mexico

Mexican health authorities in Cozumel have given the MSC Meraviglia a "clean bill of health" and cleared guests to disembark Friday, days after the ship was turned away when it tried to make port calls in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

In a statement provided by MSC spokesperson Alyssa Goldfarb, the cruise line said that the sick crew member and passenger who had alarmed officials at the earlier ports both had the flu.

"Health experts boarded the ship to check the medical condition of one crew member and one young female guest who had seasonal flu," MSC said. "In addition to the checks that are customarily run to give a ship a clean bill of health, out of an abundance of caution they conducted overnight additional tests on both of them. The results were tested at a Mexican Ministry of Public Health laboratory in the city of Chetumal and determined that the condition of both the crew member and guest was in no way whatsoever associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus. The ship was given a clean bill of health."

Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC's executive chairman, praised the Mexican authorities for doing things by the rulebook rather than reacting out of fear, as he believes the Jamaican and Cayman officials had.

”The Mexican authorities followed the correct maritime protocols whereby a ship in advance provides medical records of any passenger or crew member who is or has been unwell to the next port she visits," he said. "We would like to thank the Mexican authorities for their preventative health professionalism, which is the only way to demonstrate certainty to populations ashore, as well as to guests and crew on board."

He continued: ”The disappointing decisions by Jamaica and Grand Cayman to bar our ship to allow our passengers to disembark and enjoy their islands was born out of fear, not best medical practice. This led to unnecessary and unjustifiable anxiety, not only for our passengers and crew on board, but right across the Caribbean’s tourism sector, and possibly even further beyond.”

MSC said that guests will spend the day in Cozumel before returning to Miami for disembarkation on Sunday.

'Overreaction'? Ship turned away by Dominican Republic

Ports have continued to turn away ships due to mounting coronavirus fears around the globe.

A cruise ship heading to the Dominican Republic to disembark hundreds of passengers after a 14-day tour was turned away on Thursday because officials feared eight of those aboard showed potential symptoms of the COVID-19 virus, officials announced.

A joint statement by the Public Health Ministry and Port Authority said the captain of the Braemar reported four Filipinos, two British citizens and two U.S. citizens were under medical observation for symptoms such as fever, coughing, or breathing difficulty.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said in an emailed statement that it had reported “a small number of influenza-like cases on board. Our medical team has now advised that they are all feeling better. No guests or crew are, or have been, displaying symptoms that are considered to be consistent with those of Coronavirus.”

Officials said the ship was carrying 1,128 passengers and 384 crew members. The cruise line said it was “awaiting advice on the next steps” and “liaising with a number of airlines to secure onward travel for guests.”

"It is our opinion that this is an overreaction by the Dominican Republic,'' Fred. Olsen said in a written statement.

The cruise line's website shows the ship had been due to pick up another load of passengers and set off on a new cruise Thursday night.

Public Health Minister Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas said the ship already had been barred by another port, which he did not specify.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Diamond Princess passenger is first Briton to die