Cruise line resumed voyages in Caribbean. It’s not going well [Updated]
Enlarge / The SeaDream I ship is pictured on early August 5, 2020, at Bodo harbor in Norway. (credit: Getty | SONDRE SKJELVIK)
Update 11/13/2020 2:30pm EST: Testing by Barbados authorities has confirmed seven cases of coronavirus infections among passengers on the ship, according to Gene Sloan, a cruise reporter who is on board and in quarantine. That's about 13 percent of the 53 passengers on board. Five of the cases are all part of the same traveling party. The remaining two are a husband and wife, not traveling with the five other cases. All of the cases came to light after a member of the party of five developed symptoms and tested positive on Wednesday. This prompted the ship to go into lockdown and begin testing all 119 on board. So far, all other passengers and crew on board have tested negative.
Sloan reports that the seven infected passengers will be moved from the ship to an isolation facility in Barbados. The remaining passengers who have tested negative might be able to leave the ship later Friday or Saturday and board flights back to their home countries. The 53 passengers include 37 Americans, as well as passengers from the UK, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany, according to Sloan.
Update 11/12/2020 9:20pm EST: Earlier this evening, the ship's captain, Torbjorn Lund, announced the possibility of a sixth case in a person who was not in the same traveling group as the five other cases. Lund said that the latest case was detected by a rapid test done on board, and crew were awaiting results of testing done by Barbados officials to confirm the case. If the positive test is confirmed, it would suggest that the coronavirus has spread beyond the initial cluster on the ship. The cruise reporter on the ship, Gene Sloan, said officials were now discussing plans for people who have tested negative to disembark. Sloan noted that his rapid test on the ship was negative, and he's awaiting results from testing done by Barbados officials, which are expected early Friday.
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