UPDATE:
In the latest developments, it ended up being a 54-year-old woman from Macau who was tested for the Coronavirus. It ended up being the flu and the ship was later given the all-clear to continue cruises.
PREVIOUSLY:
One of the world’s newest cruise ships has remained docked at the popular Civitavecchia cruise port due to possible Coronavirus infected passengers.
Costa Smeralda Remains in Port Due to Coronavirus
The new mega-ship Costa Smeralda which is operated by Carnival-owned Costa Cruises has been forced to remain docked at the port of Civitavecchia, Italy due to possible Coronavirus. Two Chinese guests onboard the vessel who are a couple are being tested for the deadly virus after having possible symptoms.
As a result, no other passengers have been allowed to disembark the vessel as it remains in one of the most popular homeports in Europe. The Italian port is the gateway to Rome and is used by many major cruise lines.
Photos have been tweeted from onboard the huge cruise ship of passengers just hanging around waiting:
Costa Cruises has released a statement about the outbreak which Cruise Hive readers can read below:
Costa Crociere is dedicated to the health and safety of all guests and crew. We are strictly monitoring the situation of the so called “Wuhan Pneumonia” which is causing concern among Public Health Authorities and the traveling public.
The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are our absolute priority has increased health and safety measures as a matter of caution. The company adopts a specific protocol to help prevent the introduction and/or spread of any infectious diseases.
All guests and embarking crew are given a pre-boarding health questionnaire and medical staff are available to conduct additional screening of guests, crew and visitors. Anyone who has an illness of international public health concern will not be permitted to sail.
Costa maintains close coordination with the relevant Public Health Authority. All ships in our fleet are subjected to strict hygienic precautions and employs stringent recommended sanitation protocols to minimize the possibility of transmission of infectious diseases.
Costa Smeralda arrived back into the port to end its 7-day Mediterranean voyage which departed Civitavecchia on January 23. The ship has called at La Spezia, Savona, Marseille, Barcelona and then finally the last port of call was at Palma de Mallorca On Jan 28.
The cruise ship which is the newest and largest in the fleet will likely have a delayed departure from the port which will impact thousands of cruise passengers. if Coronavirus is confirmed the ship would no doubt have to remain in port a lot longer and all guests onboard would have to be checked. Before the cruise passengers embarked on their voyage the cruise line they were given a health questionnaire and medical staff is available onboard for extra screening and checks.
Also Read: Royal Caribbean Cancels Another Sailing Due to Coronavirus
Costa Smeralda was only delivered to Costa Cruises in December 2019 and is a new class for the fleet with a gross tonnage of over 180,000 and a maximum guest capacity of over 6,000.
So far the deadly Coronavirus which first started in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province has infected more than 7,815 and killed 170. The majority of cases are in China but it is spreading across the world including France, Germany, United States, Canada and many more.
