Following reports that the cruise ship Princess Diamond is held in quarantine amid Coronavirus outbreak, Chinese authorities announced the cruise ship ‘World Dream’ will remain docked at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal with more than 3,600 passengers and crew members onboard.
Namely, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health informed of eight confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection involving eight passengers onboard the World Dream cruise.
As of Wednesday evening, 33 crew members of the ship claimed to have developed upper respiratory tract infection symptoms.
Among them, three crew members reported to have developed fever were sent to hospital “for isolation and management”.
The 32 were tested negative for novel coronavirus, while there is another one pending.
The CHP said that relevant health inspection work is ongoing due to the large number of people onboard.
All passengers and crew members are required to stay on board prior to completion of the health inspection and permission by the Department of Health,
…the official announcement reads.
This follows another similar case involving the cruise ship ‘Diamond Princess’ which is anchored off the coast of Yokohama, Japan, with 1,045 crew and 2,666 passengers onboard.
This makes a total of more than 7,300 people currently being quarantined on the two cruise ships.
People on both ships receive health screenings, and those with suspicious symptoms are being tested for the virus.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 560 people and infected over 28,000, mostly in China.
The cruise ship industry has vowed extra measures for protection amid the vast outbreak. More specifically:
- Royal Caribbean: Spectrum of the Seas, Costa Atlantica, Costa Venezia, and MSC Splendida have cancelled their departures from the International Cruise Terminal in Baoshan District;
- Costa Cruises: Suspension of all operations from China until February 4. Operations at other major Chinese ports have also been halted;
- Norwegian Cruise Line: Introduction of non-touch temperature screenings for all passengers embarking from Chinese ports. Guest with a body temperature screening of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius or higher will not be allowed to board and will be directed to seek local medical treatment. What is more, guests travelling from Wuhan, China or who have been in the city in the last 30 days will be denied boarding;
- Royal Caribbean Cruises Asia Pacific: Will not permit passengers who visited Wuhan including those who are from the region to board their ships;
- Princess Cruises in Asia: No plans to change their itineraries and if necessary they will introduce pre-boarding disease reporting for passengers arriving from affected areas;
- Crystal Cruises: Closely monitoring developments related to the coronavirus, including recommendations from the World Health Organization.
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