Diamond Princess scheduled to set sail again in April after coronavirus quarantine

The Diamond Princess, the quarantined cruise ship docked in Japan, will be dry-docked and deep cleaned before its next voyage scheduled for April.

The ship’s passengers and crew members have been quarantined for more than two weeks after 600-plus coronavirus cases have been linked to the vessel. Disembarkation began Wednesday, and there are now only a few people aboard the ship who are still awaiting clearance, according to CNN.

Once everyone is off the isolated ship, it will undergo a deep cleaning before spending time in a dry dock.

Negin Kamali, the public relations director for Princess Cruises, is working with the Japanese Ministry of Health on sanitation specifics, according to a CNN interview.

Kamali said the plan for handling the quarantined vessel “is that the ship will be fully sanitized by a cleaning company with an expertise in this area following guidance” from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization.

Details about the sanitation process for the current biohazards the ship contains will be shared upon approval from public health authorities.

The is CDC strongly urging travelers still aboard the cruise liner to take additional quarantine measures upon disembarking from the ship.

“While the quarantine potentially conferred a significant public health benefit in slowing transmission, CDC’s assessment is that it may not have been sufficient to prevent transmission among individuals on the ship,” the CDC said in a statement.

In Japan, more than 700 cases of coronavirus have been reported, with three fatalities resulting from the virus, according to The Associated Press, including two aboard the Diamond Princess.