YOKOHAMA, JAPAN — Thousands of travelers are stranded on cruise ships after coronavirus cases were discovered on board.<br /><br />CNN reports that the World Dream cruise ship is quarantined at the port of Hong Kong, while the Diamond Princess is kept at bay in Yokohama by Japan.<br /><br />According to Live Science, the confined spaces of a cruise ship provide almost the ideal environment for viruses that rely on person-to-person contact to thrive.<br /><br />Coughing and sneezing, contaminated water and shared food onboard are all potential paths of infection."<br /><br />For instance, a trace amount of feces in the food or water can infect any passenger that dined in the buffet.<br /><br />Some pathogens can linger on surfaces that an infected person touched and transmit to the next victim.<br /><br />Not only that crews have limited time to sterilize the ship between cruises, but certain viruses including the norovirus can survive bleaching even by a 10 percent solution.
