The Corona Boats thread- 21 cruise ships around the world have been affected by the coronavirus

[Treyfish]

4 passengers dead on Holland America cruise ship, currently en route to the Florida Everglades
Published: March 27, 2020 at 3:10 p.m. ET
By
Quentin Fottrell

The company, which is owned by Carnival Corp., said ‘complimentary telephone counseling’ would be made available to the 1,243 passengers and 586 crew members

“Due to global health concerns, Holland America Line made the decision to suspend its global cruise operations for 30 days and end its current cruises in progress as quickly as possible so guests could return home,” the company said in a statement Friday.


Holland America Line said Friday that four passengers have died on its Zaandam cruise ship, but didn’t say whether COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, was to blame. The company, which is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. CCL, -17.173%, said they were “older” passengers.

“Holland America Line can confirm that four older guests have passed away on Zaandam. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time,” the cruise line said in a statement.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time.’
— Statement by Holland America
The company said 53 guests and 85 crew have reported to the Zaandam’s medical center with influenza-like illness symptoms. There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board. There are four doctors and four nurses on the ship, the company said.

The ship was previously denied permission to dock in Chile, and is seeking to land in the Florida Everglades. “Complimentary telephone counseling services from our care partner, Empathia, have been made available to guests and crew if they would like extra support during this time,” it said.

The Zaandam was sailing a South American cruise route that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, and was originally scheduled to end at San Antonio, Chile, on March 21. No one has been off the ship since March 14 in Punta Arenas, Chile, Holland America said.

“Due to global health concerns, Holland America Line made the decision to suspend its global cruise operations for 30 days and end its current cruises in progress as quickly as possible so guests could return home,” the company added.Holland Amnerica’s Zaandam ship cruise.

.....https://www.marketwatch.com/story/4-...7?mod=moneyish

[Treyfish]

Statement Regarding Zaandam

Submitted by: Julie
(March 27, 9:45 a.m PT/12:45 p.m ET):

Zaandam is currently off the coast of Panama and rendezvoused with sister ship Rotterdam at 7:30 p.m. local time yesterday, March 26. We received approval from Panamanian authorities to conduct ship-to-ship operations at anchor between the two vessels. Medical supplies and additional medical staff were transferred to Zaandam.

Today we announced a plan to transfer groups of healthy Zaandam guests to Rotterdam, with strict protocols for this process developed in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only those who have not been ill will be moved, and health screenings will be conducted before transferring. Priority for the first guests to transfer will be given to those on Zaandam with inside staterooms and who are over 70. Once aboard Rotterdam, all guests will continue to remain in their staterooms until disembarkation. Any guests who are currently ill, or in isolation as a close contact, and all crew will remain on Zaandam.

While the onward plan for both ships is still being finalized, we continue to work with the Panamanian authorities on approval to transit the Panama Canal for sailing to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Yesterday a number of patients with respiratory symptoms were tested for COVID-19 and two individuals tested positive. Out of an abundance of caution, on March 22 when Zaandam first saw a number of guests reporting to the medical center with influenza-like illness symptoms, we took immediate protective measures, including asking all guests to self-isolate in their staterooms and implementing all other appropriate precautions that have been developed in coordination with the CDC. All guests and crew received face masks yesterday and were provided with instructions on when and how to wear them.

Currently, 53 guests (4%) and 85 crew (14%) have reported to Zaandam’s medical center with influenza-like illness symptoms. There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board. On Zaandam there are four doctors and four nurses. On Rotterdam there are two doctors and four nurses.

Holland America Line can confirm that four older guests have passed away on Zaandam. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time.

Complimentary telephone counseling services from our care partner, Empathia, have been made available to guests and crew if they would like extra support during this time. For those with family members on board, they can call the following numbers for information: 877-425-2231 or 206-626-7398.

Zaandam was sailing a South America cruise that departed Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7 and was originally scheduled to end at San Antonio, Chile, on March 21. Due to global health concerns, Holland America Line made the decision to suspend its global cruise operations for 30 days and end its current cruises in progress as quickly as possible so guests could return home. No one has been off the ship since March 14 in Punta Arenas, Chile.
..https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/...rding-zaandam/
—

[Treyfish]

Four passengers died on Zaandam cruise ship; 148 people sick with flu-like symptoms

The ship, which originally left Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been anchored off the coast of Panama awaiting permission to pass through the canal and hopes to dock in Port Everglades.

The Holland America Line Zaandam ship, owned by Carnival Corporation, was turned away by Chile and plans to arrive in Fort Lauderdale on March 30. Seventy-seven people on board have flu-like symptoms, but there is no COVID-19 testing available. [Miami Herald]
By By Alex Harris
Published 2 hours ago
Updated 1 minute ago
• • •

Miami Herald

Four passengers have died aboard the Zaandam as it awaits permission to transit the Panama Canal.

Almost 150 people are sick with flu-like symptoms, according to a release from Seattle-based Holland America cruise line. It is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.

The captain announced the deaths to passengers and crew Friday afternoon. He also stated the company planned to evacuate hundreds of healthy passengers to a sister ship anchored nearby.

The ship originally left Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7 with 1,243 passengers and 586 crew on board. It has been anchored off the coast of Panama awaiting permission to pass through the canal and hopes to dock in Port Everglades.

As of Friday, 148 of the 1,243 passengers and 586 crew onboard are experiencing flu-like symptoms, the company said. On Sunday, that number was 42....https://www.tampabay.com/news/health...like-symptoms/

[Treyfish]

....Passengers will be separated based on their condition between the two ships.

"Today we announced a plan to transfer groups of healthy Zaandam guests to Rotterdam, with strict protocols for this process developed in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)," Holland America's statement said. "Only those who have not been ill will be moved, and health screenings will be conducted before transferring."

Passengers over 70 will be transferred first, and quarantine will continue on board both the Zaandam and the Rotterdam until disembarkation. Anyone who has come in contact with an ill person will also remain on the Zaandam. All on board were provided with face masks when the ships met.

The two ships received permission to anchor off the coast of Panama to meet and transfer supplies and passengers. However, the plan for disembarkation is not yet finalized. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fo...7Kz&OCID=HPDHP

[Treyfish]

Disney Cruise Passenger Tests Positive for COVID-19

Published 11 mins ago • Updated 10 mins ago
NBC 7
A Disney Cruise ship that pulled into the Port of San Diego last week had a passenger test positive for COVID-19, confirmed Eric McDonald, Medical Director with the County Epidemiology and Immunization Branch.

The Disney Wonder pulled into the Port of San Diego on March 19. It left New Orleans on March 6 on what was supposed to be a 14-night Panama Canal Cruise with several stops in Mexico, Cayman Islands, and Colombia. But they skipped several ports on the route to San Diego.

That decision came after Cruise Lines International Association asked U.S. cruise ships to suspend cruises for 30 days as of March 14, voluntarily.https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...id-19/2294785/

[Treyfish]

Canadian man dies from COVID-19 in Brazil hospital after being taken off cruise ship

ADRIAN HUMPHREYS

Published:March 27, 2020

Updated:March 27, 2020 3:41 PM PDT The Silver Shadow was one of several cruise ships caught in limbo when the global coronavirus pandemic was declared


A 79-year-old Canadian man who tested positive for COVID-19 while on a cruise ship in South America has died in a Brazil hospital, health authorities said.

He was on the cruise ship Silver Shadow sailing off the coast of Brazil when two passengers showed signs of influenza-like illness. They were medically evacuated on March 12.

The man was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Real Hospital Portugu?s de Benefic?ncia in Recife for treatment.

He died Thursday morning “due to complications caused by the new coronavirus,” said Dr. Cristiano Hecksher, medical director of the hospital, in a statement. The Canadian was one of two COVID-19 patients who died that day, the other was 69-year-old local man.

“Both had comorbidities,” Hecksher said, meaning they both had other medical conditions along with COVID-19.https://theprovince.com/news/canadia...5-ef5789f3bd52

[Treyfish]

Panama Canal blocks Holland America cruise ship with 138 ill crew members and passengers, and 2 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on board

?ine Cain

15 minutes ago
The MS Zaandam, a Holland America cruise ship dealing with an outbreak of respiratory illness onboard, will be barred from entering the Panama Canal, according to a Panama Canal Authority.

• Four passengers have died aboard the ship, and Holland America confirmed that two individuals have tested positive for COVID-19.
• The cruise line also confirmed there are 138 sick passengers and crew members on board the Zaandam.

The Panama Canal Authority will block the MS Zaandam, a Holland America cruise ship with two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on board, from entering the canal.

"Following protocol of Panama's Ministry of Health, if a vessel has individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 on board, it cannot make any port operations or transit the Canal," the Panama Canal Authority said in a statement sent to Business Insider on March 27.

The Holland America previously considered having the ship sail through the Panama Canal in order to head back to Fort Lauderdale for a March 30 arrival. The Zaandam has been stranded off the coast of South America and Central America after different ports began closing to cruise ships due to coronavirus concerns. A bout of respiratory disease then broke out on the ship, prompting 138 sick passengers and crew members to report to the vessel's medical center.

Holland America confirmed that four passengers have died on board, and two ihttps://www.businessinsider.com/holl...ovid-19-2020-3

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/...28-p54est.html

WA cruise ship crisis looms after more than 70 on docked vessel show COVID-19 symptoms
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.
Marta Pascual Juanola
By Marta Pascual Juanola
March 28, 2020 — 8.57am

The West Australian government wants to divert a German cruise liner docked in Fremantle to a military base, after more than 70 passengers and crew onboard showed COVID-19 symptoms.

Foreign nationals on board the Artania, which has been sailing off the coast of Fremantle for several days, were due to get on mercy flights to Germany over the weekend.

But senior government sources have revealed the government back-flipped in its decision to isolate infected passengers in a Joondalup police facility, saying they could now be sent to the HMAS Stirling defence base in Garden Island or the detention facilities on Christmas Island...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.victorharbortimes.com.au...sland/?cs=1537

March 28 2020 - 11:04AM
Coronavirus COVID-19 case confirmed on Sun Princess cruise ship that visited Kangaroo Island
Stan Gorton

KI CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: A coronavirus case has now been reported on the cruise ship Sun Princess that disembarked on Kangaroo Island on March 16.

This is contrary our report on Thursday from the ship operator's Carnival Australia that there were no cases or reason to be concerned.

Tasmanian public health services overnight on March 27 were informed that a separate Tasmanian case involved a passenger who was on board the Sun Princess cruise ship that disembarked from Sydney on March 19.

Tasmanians, who were on the Sun Princess have been told to go into quarantine from today until April 2...

[yielddude]

The Zaandam, is just one of at least 10 ships stuck at sea as of Thursday-- carrying nearly 10,000 passengers – around the globe, after having been turned away from their destination ports in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Guardian analysis of ship tracking data has found.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ip-near-panama

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN21F0WG


March 28, 2020 / 3:35 PM / Updated 29 minutes ago
Hundreds to be evacuated from coronavirus-hit ship off Panama
Elida Moreno

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Hundreds of passengers on a cruise ship, where four people have died and over 130 others have influenza-like symptoms, including at least two with the coronavirus, will be transferred to a sister ship, Panamanian authorities said on Saturday.

“The ship which could not dock at any port in South America will remain in Panamanian waters 8 nautical miles from the coast, since it did not receive approval from Panamanian health authorities to cross the (Panama) Canal,” Panama’s maritime authority said.

It said 401 asymptomatic passengers will be transferred from cruise operator Holland America Line’s 238-meter (781-foot) MS Zaandam vessel to the Rotterdam, a sister ship.

There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board the Zaandam, as well as four doctors and four nurses, the cruise operator has said. ..

[Treyfish]

Coronavirus-hit cruise ship carrying 248 Canadians allowed to pass through Panama Canal


No passengers or crew members will be allowed to disembark in Panama

Thomson Reuters ? Posted: Mar 28, 2020 6:40 PM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
A cruise ship stuck off Panama's Pacific coast after four passengers died and more than 130 others developed influenza-like symptoms, including at least two with COVID-19, will be allowed to proceed through the Panama Canal, the government said Saturday.

The 238-metre vessel can now continue its trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but Panama's government underscored that no passengers or crew members would be allowed to set foot on Panamanian soil.

"Panama will guarantee bio-security measures to protect the personnel who will participate in this manoeuvre and thus safeguard the health of Panamanians," the government said in a statement.

The Canadian government said 247 passengers and one crew member onboard are citizens, and that none of the dead are Canadian.

Ottawa also said it is working with its counterparts in Panama and the cruise line to repatriate the Canadians.

The Zaandam, which was previously on a South American cruise, was denied access to the Panama Canal for sanitary reasons, leaving passengers and crew wondering when they would get home.
In the meantime, Holland America, which is owned by Carnival Corp., sent the Rotterdam sister ship to the area as Panama's Maritime Authority said 401 asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to transfer from the Zaandam to the other ship.

There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew aboard the Zaandam, as well as four doctors and four nurses, the cruise operator has said.

Throughout the day, passengers on the Zaandam have been boarding onto tenders pulled up on the port side of the ship for transfer to the Rotterdam, a passenger told Reuters.
'We are in a petri dish of sickness'


CBC News spoke with several distraught Canadian passengers on board by a combination of phone, email and WhatsApp on Friday, as phone service from the ship was intermittent.

Passengers are currently confined to their cabins and have been given face masks as a safety precaution.

"It really drives home how lethal this disease is," said passenger David Kirkham of Victoria.

• Chris and Anna Joiner of Orleans, Ont., are also aboard the ship.

"We are slowly losing hope that we will ever dock and get off this ship," said Chris Joiner. "We need the Canadian government to step up to the plate and help us."

He said passengers continue to report to the ship's medical centre with symptoms.Passengers Chris and Anna Joiner sent a message to the Canadian government asking for help while stuck on board a cruise ship that has had four deaths. (Submitted by Chris Joiner)
"What's really hard on us now is the stress that we're under," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen next."

Anna Joiner said she has developed a cold but was unable to get tested on board for COVID-19....https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/panama...513888?cmp=rss


:

[Treyfish]

Passengers on cruise ship in Panama transferred to new vessel
By Patty Winsa
Sat., March 28, 2020
Two Canadians are among the first passengers transferred from Holland America’s Zaandam cruise ship, where four people have died of COVID-19 and more than a hundred others have flu-like symptoms, to a sister ship called Rotterdam off the coast of Panama.

The cruise line began separating healthy passengers on Friday from those on the Zaandam using tenders, small boats that travel with the ship and are accessible from an opening in the cruise ship just above the water line.

Passengers were given a quick health screening before being allowed to leave, said Greg Weston, who is travelling with his 75-year-old father Fenton Weston, and was on the first boat load of 64 passengers.

“I think overall there has been a sense of relief among the passengers to be on the Rotterdam, mixed with sadness for the people that passed away, and sympathy for the sick people still aboard the Zaandam,” said Greg Weston in an email.

The transferring of passengers is expected to continue all day Saturday and Sunday, he said...https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ew-vessel.html

[Treyfish]

A 75-year-old Queensland woman has died of the coranavirus.

The woman, who died in a Caboolture Hospital, was a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship, says Queensland Chief Medical Officer Jeannette Young.

It comes as the government announced Brisbane's showgrounds could be used as an emergency hospital if the COVID-19 outbreak reaches the severe stage in Queensland.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/sto...d-19/?cs=14231

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-...op-41/12101342

Coronavirus cases on Artania cruise ship in Perth blow out to 41 after 29 new COVID-19 positive tests
By Gian De Poloni
Posted 37 minutes ago

The WA Government has confirmed 29 people on board the Artania cruise ship docked in Fremantle have tested positive to COVID-19.

That brings the total number of passengers and crew on board the German ship who have contracted the virus to 41.

The sick passengers are expected to be taken to two private hospitals in Perth for treatment, under a deal struck with the Federal Government...