Canberra company Aspen Medical to support Diamond Princess crew in quarantine

It comes as all guests have disembarked the cruise ship, which was forced to dock in Japan following a COVID-19 outbreak where more than 600 people were infected with the virus.

Fewer than 500 staff remained on the ship and while some waited for government charter flights, others would be sent to a shoreside facility in Japan.

These crew members would be subject to a 14-day quarantine, as required by the Japan Ministry of Health, which employed Aspen Medical.

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A statement from Princess Cruise Lines said the mandated quarantine was "out of an abundance of caution, to ensure the health and wellbeing of each team member".

There are 56 professionals from Aspen Medical and subcontractors who will provide services at the facility including daily health checks, laundry services, meals, housekeeping and security.

Three Canberrans are part of this and are in the clinical, project management and administration teams.

"Aspen Medical is currently providing health and wellbeing support through our experts up in Japan to the crew of the Diamond Princess," Aspen Medical founder and executive chairman Glenn Keys said.

"We have experts in infectious disease and we have doctors, nurses and environmental health officers up there supporting the health and wellbeing monitoring of all of those crew."

None of the crew members who tested positive will be on the shoreside facility but they will be tested throughout the quarantine period.

"We are working with the [Japan Ministry of Health] on the testing regime," Mr Keys said.

"When the crew had all arrived, if any of them had been infected with coronavirus before they had arrived they would have gone straight to the hospital.

"So we got people who didn't have coronavirus and then we work with the [Japan Ministry of Health] for the period of testing while they are there."

The multinational company has its worldwide headquarters in Canberra where it was founded by Mr Keys in 2003.

"We've got just under 2000 staff at the moment and we provide complete health care solutions," Mr Keys said.

"We'll provide as much or as little as the customer needs so we can provide the buildings, the equipment, the people, the pharmaceuticals and consumables to deliver a solution.

The company has previously responded to the Ebola outbreak in 2014 in West Africa.

Ten Australians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship were infected with the coronavirus.

Some were infected during a 14-day quarantine in Darwin.

Among those was James Kwan, 78, who died in a Perth hospital on the weekend. He was the first Australian to die from the COVID-19 outbreak.

He and his wife were among evacuees from the Diamond Princess and both fell ill after being taken to Darwin for two weeks in quarantine.