Japanese expert slams handling of virus outbreak on cruise ship

An unidentified passenger is surrounded by the media after she disembarked from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship on Feb 19, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. - AP

TOKYO (AFP): A Japanese infectious diseases expert has made waves with videos slamming the government's handling of a quarantined cruise ship, racking up hundreds of thousands of views as passengers start to leave the boat.

The situation on the Diamond Princess was "completely chaotic" and violated quarantine procedures, said Kentaro Iwata, a professor at Kobe University, in unvarnished criticism rarely seen in Japanese officialdom or academia.