Several passengers have tested COVID-positive on Costa Cruises' ship Costa Smeralda during a 7-day Mediterranean voyage.
According to Costa, 6 members of 2 families had tested COVID-positive on the liner, which docked in Marseille France on Saturday, August 8.
The company said they had 6 positive cases and the same number of close contact cases.
The infected passengers and the 6 direct contacts had been isolated from the other guests until they disembarked in Marseille Fos Port.
The infected guests belonged to a group of 180 cruisers from France who had taken part in a week-long Mediterranean voyage with calls in Spain and Italy. Smeralda set sail from Barcelona on August 2 and visited Palma de Mallorca, Majorca Island, Balearic Spain (Aug 3), Palermo Sicily (Aug 5), Civitavecchia-Rome (Aug 6), Savona, Italy (Aug 7), Marseille (Aug 8), arriving back in Barcelona, Spain on August 9.
All participants presented a negative COVID test when they boarded. A 2nd test was made midway through the trip.
The cases had been discovered after a guest with fever reported to the crew. All accompanying persons were immediately tested.
Because the affected guests did not want to disembark in Italy, they were placed in isolation onboard the ship until their return to Marseille and taken home in an ambulance following the disembarkation.
The French regional health authority has confirmed the disembarkation of the affected travelers.
For more Costa Smeralda accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.