The Diamond Princess was ordered to let its 3,711 passengers stay aboard the cruise ship for two weeks after it returned to Yokohama, Japan, on Feb 3. Nearly 700 passengers aboard were confirmed to have the virus, and 13 died by the end of May, according to the NHK, a Japanese news agency.

Niu Rong, a Wuhan resident who joined the quarantine with her daughter on the Costa Serena, says:"When reading the Diamond Princess news a few days later, we really appreciated the speed of the cooperation between Costa and Tianjin local authorities."

Lu Guoqi, an actor who plays a doctor in the drama, says: "I have done the role of a doctor many times in different dramas. However, in this drama, I felt the enormous strength and responsibility as a doctor."

He had rehearsed the drama in the past few months, he says. "I constantly thought what we should do, as an artist, to make a contribution to the battle with the virus. With other artists we voluntarily joined some initiatives, to recite poems to doctors working at the front lines ... that's part of our efforts that we really want to contribute to those tired and courageous doctors."

Wu Qi, the head of the COVID-19 rescue team in Tianjin and chief expert at the Haihe Hospital, the pinpointed COVID-19 treatment hospital, says, after watching the drama: "The rescue efforts of Costa Serena could be considered as an example during the pandemic for the world."

Zhang Boli, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, says: "The drama makes me go back to the hardest moment when the pandemic was in its peak in China and it's an epitome of the hardest time."

The drama is expected to be performed on stages around China in a bid to give strength and confidence for local people along with the ongoing campaign to fight against the virus.

Director Zhong notes the drama has the fusion of realism and romanticism and utilizes transparent LED mesh video-wall, which enables the background wall to display pictures rapidly, to showcase the scenes from the luxurious performance inside the cruise liner, the nucleic acid tests, the news conference, and the helicopter taking the samples, just to name a few.