Two cruise ships hit by coronavirus weeks after industry restarts
Source: The Guardian
Two cruise ships hit by coronavirus weeks after industry restarts
Outbreaks of Covid-19 recorded on MS Roald Amundsen in Norway and the Paul Gauguin in Tahiti
Ben Doherty Pacific Editor and agencies
@bendohertycorro
Published on Mon 3 Aug 2020 02.34 BST
Covid-19 has been detected on at least two cruise ships one in the Arctic and one in the Pacific just weeks after cruising holidays restarted.
At least 40 passengers and crew from the MS Roald Amundsen have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and authorities are trying to contact trace hundreds of passengers from two recent Arctic voyages the ship took.
Four crew members on the MS Roald Amundsen were hospitalised on Friday when the ship arrived at the Norwegian port of Tromsø, and later diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Tests showed another 32 of the 158 staff were also infected.
But 178 passengers were allowed to leave the ship in Tromsø, triggering a complex operation to locate them in order to contain any potential spread.
So far, four of the 387 passengers who travelled on the ship on two separate cruises since 17 July have been found to carry the virus, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) and the Tromsoe municipality said.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/03/two-cruise-ships-hit-by-coronavirus-weeks-after-industry-restarts
The MS Roald Amundsen is owned by the Norwegian firm Hurtigruten (EPA)
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Source:
BBC
Coronavirus: Dozens test positive for Covid-19 on Norwegian cruise ship
3 August 2020
At least 41 passengers and crew on a Norwegian cruise ship have tested positive for Covid-19, officials say.
Hundreds more passengers who travelled on the MS Roald Amundsen are in quarantine and awaiting test results, the company that owns the ship said.
The ship, which belongs to the Norwegian firm Hurtigruten, docked in the port of Tromso in northern Norway on Friday.
Hurtigruten has halted all leisure cruises because of the outbreak.
"This is a serious situation for everyone involved. We have not been good enough and we have made mistakes," Chief Executive Daniel Skjeldamsaid in a statement on Monday.
"A preliminary evaluation shows a breakdown in several of our internal procedures," he added. "The only responsible choice is to suspend all expedition sailings."
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Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53636854