Cruise ship with 800 Covid-positive passengers docks in Sydney - CNN

CNN  — 

A cruise vessel with hundreds of Covid-positive passengers docked successful Sydney, Australia, aft being deed by a question of infections.

The Majestic Princess cruise vessel was astir halfway done a 12-day voyage erstwhile an outbreak of cases was noticed, Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald told reporters successful a media briefing connected Saturday.

The vessel had 4,600 passengers and unit connected committee astatine the time, according to CNN affiliate Nine News.

After wide investigating 3,300 passengers, astir 800 tested affirmative for Covid-19, arsenic did a tiny fig of crew, Fitzgerald said.

“All affirmative cases were mildly symptomatic oregon asymptomatic, and those guests isolated successful their staterooms and past separated from non-impacted guests,” genitor institution Princess Cruises typical Briana Latter told CNN.

Cruise operators separately escorted those infected disconnected the vessel and advised them to implicit a five-day isolation period, CNN affiliate Nine News reported.

Those who tested antagonistic were permitted to permission the ship, a New South Wales Health statement read.

“Carnival has advised NSW Health that they are assisting passengers with Covid-19 to marque harmless onward question arrangements,” the connection added.

Latter said the outbreak aboard the Majestic Princess was “reflective of an summation successful assemblage transmission successful Australia.”

Australia has seen an uptick successful Covid cases recently, starring to much caution from wrong the government.

The New South Wales Ministry of Health has recorded 19,800 caller cases of Covid-19 and 22 deaths successful the past week.

The Majestic Princess cruise vessel has since departed Sydney connected her adjacent voyage to Melbourne and Tasmania.

In a aboriginal statement, Fitzgerald said Carnival Australia person made implicit 50 planetary and home voyages “with a immense bulk of much than 100,000 guests unimpacted by Covid.”
“However, the emergence of Covid successful the assemblage has meant we person seen a emergence successful affirmative cases connected the past 3 voyages,” she said.

Fitzgerald said the institution has been implementing “the astir rigorous and strict measures which spell good supra existent guidelines”, including requiring 95% of guests implicit the property of 12 to beryllium vaccinated and investigating unit and passengers for Covid earlier they board.

“We instrumentality our work to support everyone harmless precise seriously. This extends to not lone caring for our guests, but besides for the wider assemblage successful which we run and visit,” Fitzgerald said.

The Majestic Princess isn’t the archetypal Carnival cruise to beryllium deed by a Covid outbreak.

At slightest 3 different ships wrong the company’s Princess fleet – the Ruby Princess, Diamond Princess, and Grand Princess – experienced outbreaks earlier successful the pandemic.