An MSC Cruises-owned vessel allowed thousands of travellers to disembark in PortMiami FL on Sunday, March 15, without undergoing screening just days after a cruiser left the ship and later tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The passenger left MSC Meraviglia in Miami on March 8, with 103 guests and crew members remaining onboard for the next sailing. By the time, Canada's Health Agency informed MSC the ex-passenger had tested Coronavirus-positive, the liner had sailed again with thousands of additional travellers.
The Italian cruise company said it had isolated 7 crew (who had been in contact with the former passenger) in individual cabins upon receiving the results but said health officials had authorized the ship to dock on Sunday, March 15, and follow normal disembarking procedures.
3877 cruise passengers disembarked in PortMiami, with a number of them proceeding to Miami International Airport. In contrast, California's health department and CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) kept thousands of passengers on Grand Princess before eventually allowing the ship to dock in Oakland CA, where it remains as officials work to repatriate its passengers and crew.
According to MSC, no one on Meraviglia had flu-like symptoms. Company's spokesperson Alyssa Goldfarb, said the cruise liner had received clearance after US health authorities reviewed the necessary documentation regarding the health of cruise passengers and crew on board. Health officials said patients might be carriers of the virus even if they did not manifest symptoms.
For other MSC Meraviglia 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.