CNN
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A cruise ship with hundreds of passengers positive for Covid docked in Sydney, Australia, after suffering a wave of infections.
Carnival Australia President Marguerite Fitzgerald told reporters at a news conference on Saturday that the Majestic Princess cruise ship was halfway through a 12-day cruise when an outbreak of cases was detected.
The ship had 4,600 passengers and crew at the time, according to CNN’s Nine News.
Fitzgerald said that after mass testing 3,300 passengers, about 800 people tested positive for Covid-19, as well as a small number of crew.
Briana Latter, a representative for the parent company Princess Cruises, told CNN: “All of the positive cases have had mild symptoms or no symptoms, and those guests are isolated in their own rooms and then quarantined. that is separated from unaffected guests.”
Cruise operators have separately escorted infected people off the ship and advised them to complete a five-day quarantine period, CNN affiliate Nine News report.
Those with negative test results are allowed to disembark, New South Wales Department of Health statement read.
“Carnival has informed NSW Health that it is assisting passengers using Covid-19 to make safe travel arrangements,” the statement added.
Latter said the outbreak aboard the Majestic Princess “reflects an increase in community transmission in Australia.”
Australia has seen an increase in Covid cases recently, leading to more caution from within the government.
The New South Wales Department of Health has recorded 19,800 new Covid-19 cases and 22 deaths in the past week.
The Majestic Princess cruise ship has left Sydney for its onward voyage to Melbourne and Tasmania.
In a later statement, Fitzgerald said Carnival Australia had made more than 50 international and domestic trips “with the majority of more than 100,000 guests unaffected by Covid.”
“However, the emergence of Covid in the community means we have seen an increase in positive cases over the past three trips,” she said.
Fitzgerald said the company has been taking “the strictest and most stringent measures that go beyond current guidelines,” including requiring 95% of guests over the age of 12 to have their staff vaccinated and tested for Covid. passengers before they board the plane.
“We take our responsibility to keep people safe very seriously. This extends not only to caring for our guests, but also to the broader community in which we operate and visit, says Fitzgerald.
Majestic Princess is not the first Festival excursion affected by the Covid outbreak.
At least three other ships in the company’s Princess fleet – Ruby Princess, Diamond Princessand Grand Princess – have experienced previous outbreaks during the pandemic.
