India banned all foreign cruise ships from its ports due to the Coronavirus, with one European ship turned away from the port of Mangalore in the south over the weekend, officials announced on Monday.
Cruise liners are seen as a fertile breeding ground for the virus, with more than 700 cases and 6 linked deaths from Diamond Princess held off Japan in February.
A sister ship, Grand Princess, was scheduled to dock in California on Monday with a total of 21 confirmed COVID-19 infections among 3,500 people onboard.
It was unclear if anyone was infected aboard MSC Lirica, which was turned away from the port of Mangalore on Saturday, March 7.
In a statement, Mangalore port said that in view of the coronavirus threat the central government had decided that "no cruise ship from any foreign destination will be allowed to call on Indian ports with immediate effect till 31 March 2020.”
For other MSC Lirica accidents and incidents see at the ship's CruiseMinus page.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.