33 crew test positive for virus on Norwegian cruise ship

[Mary Wilson]

Updated / Saturday, 1 Aug 2020 14:33

At least 33 crew members confined on a Norwegian cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus, the company Hurtigruten said today.

Arriving at the northern Norwegian port of Tromso from the archipelago of Svalbard, the crew of the MS Roald Amundsen was quarantined on board the ship yesterday after four staff members tested positive for the virus and were hospitalised.

... The ship had nearly 180 passengers on board since departing on 25 July. None of the passengers reported symptoms related to coronavirus during the voyage, Hurtigruten said.

All passengers disembarked the ship yesterday but about 60 people have since been quarantined in Tromso, the cruise line said today.

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/0801/1156870-norway-cruise-coronavirus/

 

[Emily]

I'm surprised that cruises are running. Maybe there are practices in place to avoid what happened earlier in the year.

 

[etudiant]

These ships are the lifeline for the communities situated along Norway's northern shore. There is no road, as the many fjords make that impractical.
So the supplies and the people move by these liners, which commute up and down the coast. In effect, the Hurtigruten ships are a public transportation utility, rather than a cruise line.
However, the scenery is so magnificent and the ships so nice that the service attracts many tourists as well.

 

[Mary Wilson]

Coronavirus hits Norway cruise ship, officials fear spread across coastal villages

By Jan M. Olsen The Associated Press
Posted August 3, 2020 9:51 am

... The cruise line has contacted passengers who had been on the MS Roald Amundsen for its July 17-24 and July 25-31 trips from Bergen to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, which is known for its polar bears. There were 209 guests on the first voyage and 178 guests on the second voyage.

All 158 crew members on MS Roald Amundsen have been tested and 122 were negative.

But since the cruise ship line often acts like a local ferry, travelling from port to port along Norway’s western coast, the virus may not have been contained onboard. Some passengers disembarked along the route and may have spread the virus to their local communities.

The municipality of Tromsoe is urging anyone who travelled on the ship or had any contact with the ship to get in touch with health authorities. A total of 69 municipalities in Norway have been affected, Norwegian news agency NTB reported.

It’s not known how the outbreak began since guests come from all over the world. NTB said 33 of the 36 crew members that have tested positive came from the Philippines and the others came from Norway, France and Germany.

Over the weekend, Skjeldam said cruise ship officials did not know that they should have notified the passengers after the first case was reported Friday, adding that they followed the advice of the ship’s doctors.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7247441/...ip/?utm_medium=Twitter&utm_source=@globalnews