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48 onboard Miami-bound cruise ship test positive for Covid-19, at least 1 omicron case
At least one passenger’s Covid-19 test report has come out positive for the worrisome omicron variant of coronavirus.
At least 48 people on board a Miami-bound Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas cruise ship tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) after returning from a seven-day excursion. According to reports, there were 6,074 passengers and crew members on board.
Releasing a statement on Sunday, Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Lyan Sierra-Caro said, “Six people who tested positive disembarked the ship mid-voyage and were transported home. The remaining guests received assistance today upon our arrival.”
Speaking to USA Today, the spokeswoman said that all the passengers were informed when one of them tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus. “We were notified by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that a guest on board our (December) 4th cruise tested positive and it was identified as omicron,” she said.
Royal Caribbean authorities further stated that ninety-five per cent of everyone on board were fully vaccinated, including passengers and crew members, in line with the cruise line’s requirement for guests above 12 years of age to be fully vaccinated.
Children under the age of 12 were required to get two negative test results before taking the cruise.
Earlier this month, a cruise ship carrying at least 17 passengers and crew members had reported breakthrough Covid-19 infections when it docked in New Orleans. The cruise ship had travelled on the Caribbean route from New Orleans, including Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico; Roatán, in the Bay Islands of Honduras; and Harvest Caye, Belize.
