DuPont Personal Protection, RecoveryPRO and BELFOR Group have collaborated to conduct a deep clean on board the ‘Diamond Princess’, following a severe COVID-19 outbreak of among its passengers and crew in February 2020.
The joint operation, along with protocol guidance established by global health and safety organisations, resulted in an effective clean and disinfect solution enabling the ship to be deemed safe to sail, DuPont claimed.
When the outbreak occurred, the ship berthed at Yokohama, Japan. Due to the severity of the virus, the Japanese government required the ‘Diamond Princess’ to undergo a two-month quarantine for the more than 2,600 passengers and 1,000 crew members on the ship before remediation could be pursued.
Once it was deemed safe to proceed by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Princess Cruises, interim recommendations and protocols developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, were taken into account to undertake a heavy-duty surface cleaning.
A comprehensive cleaning and disinfection of the ship was needed to remove the threat of infection and to prevent the spread of future disease. Training and education were key pieces of the cleaning plan, the companies said.
RecoveryPRO led the clean and disinfection project on board with assistance from its parent company BELFOR Group, a disaster recovery and property restoration company. Patented DuPont Tyvek personal protective garments were used to help keep the frontline cleaning crew workers safe.
“We chose DuPont Tyvek because of its comfort, ease of wear, and resistance to abrasions and tears,” said Guido Gavio, Asia Complex Loss Director, BELFOR Asia.
The limited global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) coupled with the need for garments to outfit three crews working 24-hour shifts presented additional challenges that had to be overcome for a successful outcome. Despite these challenges and an unprecedented global demand for PPE, DuPont immediately responded by providing the proper PPE solutions for daily cleaning and disinfecting operations on board the ‘Diamond Princess’.
“I would like to thank DuPont for their extensive support,” added Satoshi Banya, RecoveryPRO Managing Director. “We see the real value in working with a global leader of PPE, who could make things happen in such difficult times.”
“We are proud of our partnership with BELFOR Group and RecoveryPRO and how we all worked together to help ensure the safety of hundreds of essential workers while addressing this critical clean and disinfect need,” said David Domnisch, Global Business Director, DuPont.
“DuPont is committed to helping with the countless PPE needs for workers on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19 so that they can return home to their families safely.”
The pandemic will continue to impact clean and disinfect protocols for cruise lines, schools, hospitals, and extended care facilities globally and it will be crucial to establish best practices for these processes to ensure all measures are taken to protect against future outbreaks, DuPont said.
