The Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Spectrum of the Seas” is seen docked on the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, China October 22, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Hong Kong authorities prevented a Royal Caribbean (RCL.N) cruise ship from departing town’s terminal late on Thursday as a crew member was suspected to have COVID-19 after routine testing, the federal government and the cruise operator stated.
The “Spectrum of the Seas” ship was scheduled to start a “cruise to nowhere” journey in close by waters, restricted to half capability and just for absolutely vaccinated residents who examined destructive for the virus 48 hours previous to the journey.
About 1,000 passengers out of a complete of 1,200 had already boarded the ship earlier than the four-night journey was cancelled. All must endure obligatory testing however have been allowed to depart the ship as they didn’t have direct contact with the crew member.
“In a routine COVID-19 check on crew members at the moment, we recognized one crew member who examined indeterminate. Following secondary pattern testing, the check resulted preliminary constructive for COVID-19,” Royal Caribbean stated in an announcement on Fb.
The 40-year-old crew member examined constructive for COVID-19 in Malaysia in July after which examined destructive for greater than 10 instances since returning to Hong Kong in August. He was absolutely vaccinated with China’s Sinovac vaccine (SVA.O).
His newest pattern was collected on Oct. 19 and had a “very low viral load”, the Centre for Well being Safety stated in an announcement, including he was asymptomatic and the choice to carry the ship was “a prudent measure”.
Hong Kong has a few of the most stringent journey restrictions on the earth and is nearly COVID-19 free. The Chinese language-ruled metropolis has reported simply over 12,300 circumstances for the reason that begin of the pandemic, largely imported, and 213 deaths.
Reporting by Twinnie Siu and Marius Zaharia; Modifying by Muralikumar Anantharaman
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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