Norway, Europe — Officials say that atleast 40 passengers and the crew on board on a Norwegian cruise ship has tested positive for Covid-19.
The company that owns the ships has disclosed that hundreds more passengers on the MS Roald Amundsen are in quarantine and currently are awaiting test results.
The ship belongs to the Norwegian firm Hurtigruten. Due to this outbreak, Hurtigruten has halted all leisure cruises on Friday.
“We are now focusing all available efforts in taking care of our guests and colleagues,” the company’s Chief Executive Daniel Skjeldamsaid in a statement.
“A preliminary evaluation shows a breakdown in several of our internal procedures,” he added. “The only responsible choice is to suspend all expedition sailings.”
Shortly after the shop was docked in Tromso, four crew members were admitted to hospital on Friday with coronavirus symptoms and later were tested positive for the virus. The test results show that 32 of the 158 staff on board were infected.
But almost 180 passengers were allowed to disembark the ship, leaving the authorities scrambling to locate and test those who had been on board.
The health officials said on Sunday that all of the passengers have now been contacted and told to self-isolate. So far only five passengers have tested positive out of 387 who have travelled on the ship since 17 July.
“We expect that more infections will be found in connection to this outbreak,” Line Vold, a health official, told Reuters news agency.
