Cruise Ship Finally Docks at Cambodia After Other Countries Reject It on Coronavirus Concerns

Chinese health officials are understandably concerned about the spread of coronavirus.  as authorities declared 116 more people dead from the virus on Friday. Outside of mainland China, the largest contagion of coronavirus is occurring aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has reported over 200 cases. With this situation as the backdrop, a Holland America cruise ship had a difficult time docking over recent days, as country after country denied it port entry on fears that its passengers may be ill with norovirus.

Reuters reports that the MS Westerdam finally docked at the Cambodian town of Sihanoukville after various countries had rejected the ship. Before the ship was able to approach the dock at Cambodia health officials required the ship to dock offshore while authorities boarded the vessel to check passengers for signs of illness.

Passengers were happy to finally disembark from the ship. Earlier in the week authorities aboard the ship announced that it would dock at Thailand, only to learn that Thai authorities had rejected the docking.