Aussie ship passengers ‘kept in the dark’

Vera Koslova-Fu has pleaded with the federal government to reveal if they will remove Australians from the Diamond Princess and force them into a new period of quarantine once they are back home.

She has raised the prospect of people refusing to join any Australian evacuation, in the hope they can leave the ship as early as Friday when their existing quarantine period expires.

“There’s been some chatter about people not leaving, if we are being evacuated,” Ms Koslova-Fu told ABC television on Monday, hours after the US took its citizens off the ship.

She said Canada and Hong Kong were doing the same, and that all those groups apparently faced a further 14 days of quarantine post-evacuation.

But she questioned why people like her – who have so far tested negative for coronavirus – should have to endure that.

“(Does) having a negative result mean nothing? Is it because the Australian government doubt Japan’s testing ability?”

She said she was relying on news reports and journalists in Tokyo and Australia for information, and that in recent days the flow of information to passengers had been “very delayed”.

“We just feel like we’re kept in the dark,” she said.

She said the ship’s captain had been doing his best when he was “allowed” to share information, including that those who continue to return negative test results can get off the ship as early as Friday.