The deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been confirmed to have infected a woman who disembarked the ms Westerdam cruise ship operated by Holland America Line.
Westerdam Passenger Confirmed With COVID-19
An 83-year-old woman who had already disembarked the ms Westerdam cruise ship in Cambodia has been tested positive for the Coronavirus which is also known as COVID-19.
Local news reported that the woman who is from the United States was found to have the virus during her travel home after disembarking the Westerdam cruise ship. She underwent a screening that was conducted by the Malaysian Medical Research Institute (IMR) and then tested. Her husband was also tested but his results came back negative. The woman is now in quarantine at a hospital in Malaysia.
Also Read: Royal Caribbean Delivering Masks to China and Supports Emergency Workers
Holland America Line has stated that on February 10 all passengers and crew were temperature-tested and not one person had an elevated temperature. Extra checks were also in place to make sure no guests had been to China in the past 14 days and during the voyage, no passengers were found to have symptoms.
Here is the latest statement from Holland America Line regarding the confirmed case of Coronavirus:
While the first results have been reported, they are preliminary at this point and we are awaiting secondary testing for confirmation.
We are working with officials in Malaysia, Cambodia and the U.S. CDC as is standard.
On Feb. 10 all 2,257 passengers and crew on board Westerdam were temperature-tested and not one person had an elevated temperature. Disembarking guests also completed a written health questionnaire and the passports of everyone on board were reviewed to ensure no one had traveled through mainland China in the prior 14 days. During the voyage there was no indication of Covid-19 on the ship.
Westerdam is alongside in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, with 236 guests and 747 crew on board. The remainder of guests from the voyage departed Sihanoukville via charter flights to Phnom Penh yesterday and today and are in various stages of transit home.
With the latest case, it now increases the number of people who have been infected in Malaysia to 22. All the other passengers from the ship have already disembarked too with many currently traveling back to their home countries.
It has been an eventful cruise and not the one that guests expected. The Westerdam was denied entry to multiple ports due to fear of the Coronavirus even though there were no cases on board. The ship was eventually allowed to dock in Thailand but then authorities there even denied entry. On February 13 Holland America cruise ship was finally allowed to dock in Sihanoukville, Cambodia and passengers have been allowed to disembark on February 14.
You can read our earlier post about the ship missing being denied entry to ports right here.
The ship was originally scheduled to sial a 14-day cruise which did depart from Hong Kong as normal on February 1. There were 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members on board during the voyage which was supposed to end in Yokohama, Japan on February 15.
As of writing this, COVID-19 has infected more than 50,000 worldwide and killed more than 1,400 mainly in China.
