H7N9 Charts and Math

 

 

I just got back last night from Beijing & Shanghai.  We were servied Chinese food in several restaurants while on land. 

 

Probably unrelated, but we estimated that 30% to 40% of the people on the ship were sick with the Norovirus.  We based this figure on how many of our specific tour group got sick.  Holland America was really secretive about the outbreak numbers.  They refused to tell us the actual number of people infected or even the percentage.  They cited their reason as "passenger privacy".  I wasn't asking for names, only numbers so there should NOT have been a privacy issue.  A manager at the front desk told me that they didn't have code yellow or red on the ship, which was a bold faced lie as we found out from several crew members who were obviously coached later to say nothing, or because the ship quit sharing information with them.  Also, we heard that Holland America tried to blame the outbreak on a group of passenger's who had an overnight excursion in Beijing, but I happen to know that at least 7 people were infected with the Norovirus prior to us even docking in Beijing and we were already at code yellow at that time because of it!  Holland America was trying to keep the facts hidden from the passengers and tried to lay the blame on toursts who spent a night ashore in Beijing.  I feel that their motivation was selfish because they didn't want to become headlines on FOX or CNN.  The bottom line here is that if you travel with Holland America don't count on them being upfront with the passengers about any outbreak aboard their ships.  I feel that their practice of secrecy is unethical with no concern for the passengers who may want to isolate themselves for preventive reasons.  They only care about their image while refusing to give the passengers accurate information about the outbreak.  On the other hand they were great at cleaning the ship after the outbreak got completely out of control.  They had enough hand sanitizers aboard that I'm surprised they didn't require us to actually bathe in the stuff.  We were supposed to hand sanitize before and after pushing the elevator buttons, before going to dinner, and before walking down certain common hallways.  Cleaning on Holland America during the early stages of the Norovirus was haphazard and sloppy.  Cruise with them at your own risk.

 

Hopefully, someone on the Holland America "Volendam" ship will report the actual numbers which would them put them on this list.  However, I'm not holding my breath on them giving out the truth when they wouldn't even tell the passengers.