Princess Cruises Passenger Tests Positive for Coronavirus
The international scare surrounding coronavirus and its spread has significantly affected the cruise industry’s Asia operations. In particular, many cruise companies have cancelled and postponed voyages which were set to call on mainland China, while authorities detained other passengers and tested them for the virus. Though thousands of cruise passengers have been screened for coronavirus, none had been confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus until now.
Bloomberg.com reports that Princess Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Line, announced that one of the company’s passengers on a cruise in Asia tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend. The passenger had originally embarked on the Diamond Princess on January 20 and disembarked in Hong Kong on January 25, reports Bloomberg. After embarking on the ship and continuing the voyage, the passenger tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
As a result of the positive test, Japanese officials held the Diamond Princess in order to test all of the ship’s passengers and crew members for the virus. Japanese officials said that the ship would be detained for about 24 hours, and the detention will involve the testing of 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew.
Attorney John H. (Jack) Hickey and his team handle a wide range of cases, including but not limited to cruise ship accidents, admiralty and maritime accident cases, medical malpractice, wrongful death, premises liability, railroad accidents and car accidents. We represent victims from all over the nation, the world and the state of Florida.