Coronavirus: Diamond Princess guest slammed as ‘Ugly American’ for refusing to self-isolate

Matthew Smith has been going sightseeing in Japan, where officials have not required disembarked passengers to undergo another round of quarantine

There has been rising public outrage as experts raise concerns that the official tally of infections may be under-reported due to Japan’s relaxed approach to virus testing

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Passengers of the Diamond Princess who disembarked in Japan have not been required to undergo a second round of quarantine, angering citizens in Japan. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 9:19pm, 28 Feb 2020Updated: 9:57pm, 28 Feb 2020

When California lawyers Matthew Smith and Katherine Codekas checked into a hotel in Tokyo last weekend, they decided not to hide where they had been.

The couple, along with about 900 other passengers, were released from February 19 to 21 after a two-week quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where a coronavirus outbreak has left more than 700 people infected and killed four Japanese nationals.

Foreign governments evacuated hundreds of their citizens, including about 300 United States nationals, and imposed 14 more days quarantine. But Smith and his wife were not among them.

Smith led a mutiny of about 50 Americans who refused to fly “coronavirus class” with “hazmat astronauts” on the government’s converted cargo plane over concerns of sharing a long flight with potentially infected passengers.

Japan did not impose another quarantine upon about 800 Japanese nationals and an estimated 100 foreigners who chose to stay in Japan. Critics say the authorities moved the viral “petri-dish” from the ship into the general public.