Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Indonesia Repatriating Citizens Who Worked on Coronavirus-Stricken Cruise
Ships

Made Yoni

   WASHINGTON - The Indonesian government announced that it plans to
   repatriate 68 of its citizens who are crew members aboard the Diamond
   Princess, a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, at the center of Japan's
   coronavirus outbreak.

   The crew members will return home by air Sunday and be quarantined on
   Sebaru Kecil, an uninhabited island in Thousand Islands, near Jakarta,
   where 188 crew members from the World Dream have been since Friday. The
   Indonesian National Military will oversee travel from Japan.

   "It is a place we consider safe as the island is not inhabited and the
   facilities are good and ready to use," Muhadjir Effendy, Indonesia's
   Coordinating Human Development and Culture minister, said earlier in
   the week.

   The crews will be in separate buildings and quarantine zones on the
   island, Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said. The
   government evacuated the Indonesian World Dream crew members before
   those on the Diamond Princess because the World Dream was closer to the
   quarantine site not far from Bintan Island.

   Wayan Sudiartha, a 24-year-old Diamond Princess crew member, has been
   stuck aboard the ship since Feb. 5. Yan Artha, as he likes to be
   called, said that the 200 Indonesian crew members have been worried
   because nine Indonesian crew members have tested positive for COVID-19.
   They are being treated at a hospital in Japan.

   "We are definitely worried, because we were on the same part of the
   ship," Yan Artha, who continues to work up to 10 hours a day, said.

.