Tag Archives: out break

A cruise ship with 800 Covid cases docks in Sydney

Posted on by
Reply

A holiday cruise ship carrying about 800 passengers with Covid-19 has docked in Sydney, Australia.

The Majestic Princess cruise ship arrived at Circular Quay, having sailed from New Zealand.

About 4,600 passengers and crew were aboard the ship when it docked – meaning around one in five had Covid.

The outbreak is reminiscent of the Ruby Princess cruise ship Covid outbreak of early 2020, where at least 900 people tested positive and 28 died.

Marguerite Fitzgerald, the president of the cruise operator Carnival Australia, said a large number of cases started to be detected about halfway through the 12-day voyage.

All cases were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, she said.

Staff would be assisting all guests who have tested positive “with accessing private transport and accommodation to complete their isolation period”, she said. The ship will soon depart for Melbourne.

Asked about comparisons between the Majestic Princess and the Ruby Princess – which also belongs to the same operator – Ms Fitzgerald said: “Since then, we as a community have learnt a lot, a lot more about Covid.”

The outbreak comes as Covid cases rise across Australia.

In New South Wales, 19,800 new cases were detected in the seven days to Friday.

COVID Outbreak Ends Voyage For Thousands Already Aboard Cruise Ship

Posted on by
Reply

The German operator of a cruise ship that has been stuck in Lisbon’s port due to an outbreak of the coronavirus among its crew pulled the plug on the voyage on Sunday after some passengers tested positive, port authorities said.

The AIDAnova, with 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew onboard docked in Lisbon on Dec. 29 while en route to the island of Madeira for New Year’s Eve celebrations, but was unable to continue the journey after 52 cases of COVID-19 were detected among the fully-vaccinated crew.

It had been allowed to leave port and head to the Spanish island of Lanzarote on Sunday, but now another 12 people have tested positive, including four passengers, captain of the port Diogo Vieira Branco told TSF radio.

“The company’s protocol was immediately actioned, with those infected, who are asymptomatic or displaying light symptoms, immediately isolated on the ship … and the company decided to end the cruise and disembark the passengers,” he said.

The passengers would be transported home by air, he added, without specifying when.

The company, AIDA Cruises, which is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Reuters footage showed passengers still enjoying the afternoon sun on decks with their drinks, and local media said the disembarking would begin after 6 a.m. on Monday.

The crew who had tested positive between Wednesday and Friday were transferred to Lisbon hotels and were in isolation there.

On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised people to avoid travelling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status.

The move delivered another blow to the industry that only returned to the seas in June after a months-long suspension of voyages caused by the pandemic.

Caribbean Princess cutting cruise short due to fog and illness

Posted on by
2

Princess Cruises has been forced to cut short the current voyage onboard Caribbean Princess because of impending weather forecasts and a suspected outbreak of norovirus.

The vessel is scheduled to return to US waters today, one day earlier than had been intended in the itinerary, because of a heavy build up of dense fog that is expected to descend along the US coast tomorrow and for most of the weekend.

It will also require extra time for sanitisation under the watchful eye of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after passengers reported symptoms of the vomiting bug to the ship’s medical bay. According to reports, five passengers are sick with nausea and diarrhoea at present, however some 165 passengers and 11 crew are believed to have fallen ill during the course of the trip.

That represents five per cent of the 3,104 guests aboard Caribbean Princess and less than one per cent of the 1,148 staff members, which is someway short of the eye-watering number of sick reported aboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas this week, when more than 20 per cent of the 3,071 passengers reported with symptoms.

However, this represents the third confirmed outbreak of norovirus already this year. Last year by way of comparison, there were nine outbreaks in total. In order to stay on track with its accelerated timeline, the ship, which has been sailing since January 25th, was forced to skip a planned call at the port of Belize.

Princess said in a statement: “Because of the increased sensitivity surrounding Norovirus by both cruise lines and the CDC in this winter season, we notified the CDC who will be boarding on Friday to ensure all appropriate measures are followed for an extensive sanitation of the ship prior to the next cruise.”

Passengers will be provided with overnight accommodation in local hotels once the ship arrives in port, as well as a future cruise credit worth 20 per cent of their fare and a one-day allowance to put towards meals and other costs.