At Least Three Cruise Ships See Coronavirus Cases Upon Return To Operations

Over the past several days the travel world has been rocked by the revelation that a Norwegian cruise ship has experienced a coronavirus outbreak upon returning to operations. Now, published reports indicate that at least three cruise ships have experienced coronavirus cases after returning to the seas.

MSN.com reports that the three companies are Hurtigruten which operates out of Norway, AIDA which operates out of Germany, and Paul Gauguin which operates out of the South Pacific.

  • The Hurtigruten outbreak seems to be the most significant with dozens of crewmembers testing positive over recent days and at least four passengers also testing positive. In a statement about the outbreak the company’s CEO acknowledged that the company had made mistakes in the way that it returned to service. Officials believe that passengers from up to three separate voyages may have been exposed to coronavirus and the full extent of contagion is not yet known.
  • 10 AIDA crewmembers on two separate ships also contracted coronavirus. AIDA is owned by Carnival. The company said that it will quarantine the affected crewmembers but seems intent continue with future sailings of the ships.
  • Just one person tested positive for coronavirus aboard the Paul Gauguin ship. The MSN.com report says that a young American woman tested positive before the ship set sail and that she will be quarantined aboard the ship as it continues on its seven-day itinerary.