Nearly 1,700 passengers on a Royal Caribbean “cruise-to-
nowhere” from Singapore were yesterday told to stay in their cabins after a COVID-19 case was detected on board, forcing the Quantum of the Seas ship back to port, authorities said.
All passengers had cleared a mandatory polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19 within three days before the cruise started on Monday, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said.
Photo: Reuters
The infected passenger, an 83-year-old male, had reported to the onboard medical center with diarrhea, and others on board were told of the infection early yesterday.
Royal Caribbean and the STB said all guests and crew of the ship who had close contact with the infected guest had subsequently tested negative for the virus.
The passengers and crew are to stay onboard in their rooms until contact tracing is complete, said Annie Chang, director of the cruise segment at the STB.
They are all to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing before leaving the terminal, she said, adding that they are being given regular updates and meals are provided directly to their rooms.
Passenger Melvin Chew said he was awakened by an announcement on the ship’s tannoy just before 3am yesterday, which said a guest had tested positive and all passengers must remain in their rooms.
“I was like: ‘There it goes, the worst fear has happened,’” said Chew, a 31-year-old business development manager, who had taken the cruise with a friend.
The cruise ship returned to Singapore at 8am, and as of 2pm, passengers were still being asked to isolate in their cabins.
The “cruise-to-nowhere” by Royal Caribbean is one of the firm’s first sailings since it halted global operations in March due to the pandemic.
There were 1,680 guests and 1,148 crew on board, a company spokesperson said.
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