A crew member of Viking Cruises' Viking Star ship in Alesund Norway has tested COVID-positive.
The company said there had been minimal contact between the crew onboard, and it was further limited until everyone had been tested. There were no other people onboard with COVID symptoms.
The person is part of a crew of 105 people onboard, according to the press release.
Aleksander Linge Sommerdalen, the acting municipal chief physician, said the person had come onboard the ship on July 17 from abroad.
Viking Star has been in storage at the quay in Alesund since May 18 due to the corona pandemic, the Alesund Region Port Authority revealed. The liner has not had passengers since March 15. In order to prevent infection, the crew members have not been ashore since the normal operation was stopped.
As long as the Viking ship has been in storage, the crew members have been isolated onboard. It was unclear how the person had been infected. He took a test before leaving for Norway, which came back negative. The person in question came onboard on July 17 and was then quarantined in his cabin for 2 weeks.
After 10 days onboard, the person was tested again for Coronavirus and that test was also negative. He was then at work, with minimal contact with the others in the crew but when he started to feel bad, he took another test that showed the person was infected with COVID-19. The person is currently isolated in his cabin.
All 105 people on board will be tested for the virus. The municipality does not suspect the spread of infection from the cruise ship.
For more Viking Star accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.