MORE than 6,000 cruise passengers were reportedly quarantined, including 27 Australians, on Costa Cruises’ Costa Smeralda ship in Italy, amid fears a guest may have contracted the deadly coronavirus. A spokesperson for Italian cruise line told CNN that a 54-year-old woman had exhibited symptoms consistent with the virus, and had...
MORE than 6,000 cruise passengers were reportedly quarantined, including 27 Australians, on Costa Cruises’ Costa Smeralda ship in Italy, amid fears a guest may have contracted the deadly coronavirus.
A spokesperson for Italian cruise line told CNN that a 54-year-old woman had exhibited symptoms consistent with the virus, and had recently travelled from Hong Kong with her husband.
All passengers and crew were held until the woman and her husband both underwent further testing, with the Italian Ministry of Health telling local media mid morning today that the results had come back negative.
The timing of the health scare is not ideal for Costa Cruises, whose LNG-powered Costa Smeralda vessel (pictured) only launched to the market last month.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared a global emergency overnight in regards to the coronavirus spreading beyond the borders of China, prompting MSC Cruises to scale up its precautionary measures on all of its ships globally.
The cruise line has stressed that there have been no cases of coronavirus on any of its ships to date, however, it is undertaking additional steps to secure the health and well-being of its guests and crew.
These include: all nationalities being required to fill out a pre-embarkation questionnaire to ensure no passenger boards who has travelled from mainland China in the past 30 days, mandatory non-touch thermal scans for all guests and crew prior to embarkation for every cruise globally, elevated deep-sanitation procedures, and stricter isolation protocols for any guest showing signs of the virus.
MSC Cruises has also redeployed the first embarkation point for MSC Splendida’s Grand Voyage due to the virus, moving the start of the 27-night sailing from Shanghai to Singapore.
