Another cruise ship with COVID-19, including two fatalities, is docking in Florida. Namely, the Coral Princess cruise carries 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members.
As of last week, seven passengers and five crew members had tested positive for COVID-19. What is more, two people have passed away while on board, and one more patient died after being hospitalized.
Now, the ship has docked and the passengers started to disembark. Anyone in need of hospitalization will disembark first.
In addition, people fit to fly will begin leaving on April 12, while others with symptoms will remain on board until cleared by ship doctors.
Before Coral Princess, the cruise ships Zaandam and Rotterdam were allowed to dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, with 14 critically ill people being hospitalized. The rest of the passengers were slowly being allowed to board flights.
The Coral Princess’s cruise was due to end March 19 in Buenos Aires. Since then, the ship has faced difficulties to docking due to port closures and cancellation of airline flights.
According to the USCG, it has processed around 120 vessels carrying some 250,000 passengers over the past three weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of last Saturday there were 114 cruise ships, carrying 93,000 crew members, either in or near U.S. ports and waters. Another 41 cruise ships, with 41,000 crew members, are underway and close to the U.S.
The cruise line industry has announced a voluntarily suspension of most ship operations from U.S. ports on March 13. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a “no sail” order to all cruise ships that had not suspended operations.