Passenger Aboard First Caribbean Cruise Since Shutdown Tests Positive For COVID-19

Courtesy of ZeroHedge View original post here.

A travel reporter sent to cover the first Caribbean cruise since the springtime has instead confirmed that one passenger has already tested positive for the virus on the ship, despite attempts to build a shipboard “bubble” of COVID-free staff and passengers. It’s just the latest reminder of how difficult it can be to keep COVID-19 out.

So far, only one passenger has tested positive, according to a preliminary rapid test.

Sloan said the vessel’s captain, Torbjorn Lund, announced the case via shipwide intercom just afternoon as the ship was anchored in the Grenadines. All passengers and non-essential crew were told to isolate in their cabins.

According to the reporter, all passengers had to test negative twice in order to board: Once on the day of departure, once a few days before. Then, after boarding, they would be asked to take one more test.

The sailing was the first in the Caribbean by any cruise vessel since the coronavirus crisis was declared a pandemic in March. The Caribbean is the world’s biggest cruise destination, accounting for at least a third of all cruises taken in a normal year, and the cruise industry has been eyeing a restart in the region for many months.

The passenger who tested positive felt sick leading up to the test, the captain had announced.

The ship, named SeaDream 1, is carrying 53 passengers and 66 crew. It began its cruise on Saturday from its home port of Barbados, but now it will return there immediately. As it works to test the rest of its passengers and crew, it’s worth noting that the ship is armed with three Abbot Labs COVID-19 testing machines. Already, the entire crew has been tested and come back negative.

Aside from Union Island, SeaDream 1 has visited St. Vincent, and the Grenadine islands of Canouan and Tobago Cays, but passengers on the vessel have not come in contact with locals on the islands.

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Passenger Aboard First Caribbean Cruise Since Shutdown Tests Positive For COVID-19