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Chef José Andrés and team feed coronavirus-quarantined cruise ship passengers stuck in Japan

Darned in surgical masks, World Central Kitchen workers prepared meals for crew members and travelers aboard the Diamond Princess docked in Yokohama

WASHINGTON — World Central Kitchen, a team of disaster relief chefs, founded by D.C. icon and activist José Andrés, served hot meals to cruise-line passengers quarantined amid the coronavirus outbreak. 

About 600 travelers disembarked the ship on Wednesday, Princes Cruises said, signaling the end of the quarantine. But concerns around coronavirus remains.

A man in his 80s aboard the cruise line died from the coronavirus on Thursday, Japans's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said. A second patient died of pneumonia, the agency said.

Passengers aboard Princess Cruises docked in Yokohama, Japan have been quarantined since Feb. 4, after 10 people tested positive for coronavirus, according to Princess Cruises

There were 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew members aboard, according to the company.

Darned in surgical masks, chefs prepared hot courses, like pasta primavera and beef stroganoff, at a kitchen 30 minutes from the dock, Chef Tim Kilcoyne, World Central Kichten's Director of Chef Operations explained in a video posted to Twitter.

World Central Kitchen workers built an outdoor field kitchen on the dock, to heat those meals up and transport it through a single door for those stranded aboard the ship. 

The setup includes 4 oven trucks, 6 refrigerated trucks, and a forklift, World Central Kitchen said in a tweet.

"Everybody here is amazing and it's great to be here in Japan to support those folks who are on the ship and also the staff, more importantly, that has been on there consistently working and consistently taking care of all their guests," Kilcoyne said.

The team arrived in Japan, within a week after the cruise-line announced the quarantine, World Central Kitchen wrote online.

Meanwhile in Yauco, Puerto Rico, Andrés's charity has been dishing up food for the masses since the big earthquake hit and subsequent tremors. 

"The system works, you don't need to be a master genius,"  Andrés said from their Yauco kitchen. "Just use empathy, no plan, no meeting, just boots on the ground and plan shows up as we start cooking."

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