Synopsis

The story takes place on the luxury cruise ship “Diamond Princess,” which entered Yokohama Port on February 3, 2020, and became the site of Japan’s first mass COVID-19 outbreak. The ship carried 3,711 passengers and crew members from 56 countries worldwide. After health screenings and specimen collection from symptomatic individuals upon arrival in Yokohama confirmed 10 infected cases, Japan faced its first encounter with an unknown virus with no established treatment protocol. In this situation, doctors and nurses rushed to the “front lines,” leaving their families and safe daily lives behind to prioritize saving lives.

At that time, Japan had no large-scale institution specializing in virus response, and the responsibility fell suddenly to DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team), a medical volunteer organization specializing in disaster medicine. DMAT, which stands for Disaster Medical Assistance Team, consists of doctors, nurses, and medical administrative staff who have received specialized training to respond within approximately 48 hours to large-scale disasters and accidents. While they were specialists in responding to disasters such as earthquakes and floods, they had no experience or training in dealing with an unknown virus.

Oguri plays DMAT commander Yuki Hideharu, while Matsusaka takes on the role of Tatematsu Nobutaka, a government official dispatched from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Ikematsu portrays Sanada Haruto, a DMAT member who rushed from Gifu, and Kubozuka embodies Sendo Yukiyoshi, who shares a past with Yuki as a “comrade in arms” from their time working together during the Great East Japan Earthquake.