Passengers finally leave COVID-hit cruise ship after 5 days
The German operator of a cruise ship that has been stuck in Lisbon’s port due to an outbreak of the coronavirus among its crew pulled the plug on the voyage on Sunday after some passengers tested positive, port authorities said.
Disconsolate passengers stuck on a cruise ship moored in Lisbon’s port for five days due to a COVID-19 outbreak began disembarking early on Monday, focused on clearing the final hurdle of a negative test before boarding homebound flights.
The AIDAnova, with 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew onboard docked in Lisbon on Dec. 29 while en route to the island of Madeira for New Year’s Eve celebrations, but was unable to continue the journey after 52 cases of COVID-19 were detected among the fully-vaccinated crew.
The ship was en route to the island of Madeira for New Year’s Eve celebrations, but the cruise was cut short after COVID-19 was detected among the crew, 52 of whom tested positive between Wednesday and Friday.
Earlier, it had been allowed to leave port and head to the Spanish island of Lanzarote on Sunday, but since then another 12 people tested positive, including four passengers, captain of the port Diogo Vieira Branco told TSF radio.
Therefore, “The company’s protocol was immediately actioned, with those infected, who are asymptomatic or displaying light symptoms, immediately isolated on the ship … and the company decided to end the cruise and disembark the passengers,” he said.
By Monday 68 positive cases, including a handful among the passengers, had been detected, port captain Diogo Vieira Branco told the Lusa news agency.
The ship’s German operator, Carnival Corp subsidiary AIDA Cruises, said all those infected had mild symptoms or none at all. All crew and guests over 12 had been fully vaccinated and been required to show a negative rapid antigen test before departure, it added.
Passengers who had again tested negative in the past 48 hours started to disembark before dawn and were being transported by bus to the city’s airport in an operation expected to last most of the day.
“We’re living in this situation and it can always happen. Of course it’s not nice, we imagined something else,” one calm but disappointed passenger said as he disembarked.
“We all want this to end. We’re going home,” added another.
AIDA Cruises said it adhered to “comprehensive health and safety protocols” on all its cruises.
On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised people to avoid travelling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status.
The move delivered another blow to the industry that only returned to the seas in June after a months-long suspension of voyages caused by the pandemic. (Reuters)