Cruise Passengers Stuck On Ship In CT Despite Negative Covid-19 Tests

Passengers on a German cruise liner in the port of Cape Town were not being allowed to disembark even though six passengers had tested negative for COVID-19.

More than 1,700 people have been stuck on the AIDAmira since Monday.

Anxious passengers were standing on the balcony of the ship at Cape Town Harbour’s Passenger Terminal, some waving and others on their phones.

#COVID19SouthAfrica #CoronaVirusSA Passengers are still on the AIDAmira cruise ship at the Port of Cape Town. Six of them are being tested for Coronavirus. KP pic.twitter.com/S4uAZzlquG

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 18, 2020

They’ve been quarantined on the ship after it was found six passengers had been in contact with two crew members of a cargo vessel called the MV Corona when they all flew to Cape Town from Turkey.

One of those cargo vessel crew members had shown COVID-19 symptoms.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority’s Acting CEO Sobantu Tilayi said that the quarantine would be lifted and each passenger would be tracked.

“The next thing would be to disembark these people, and again we need to follow that protocol, see that we quarantine them, see who wants to leave, what procedure we need to follow.”

He added that one of the cargo vessel crew members has tested negative, while the other would undergo further testing.

“The other crew members need to undergo further testing, so our information is that we do not have a conclusive answer.”

The incident came as South Africa’s cruise season drew to a close.

EWN