After over 800 passengers tested positive for COVID-19, the Majestic Princess Cruise Ship disembarks in Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia after departing from New Zealand.
The supposed 12-day cruise came to an abrupt end when one out of every five passengers and crew got infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The Cruise Operator Estimates Eight Hundred Cases But There Could Be More
With almost a thousand positive cases tallied inside the Majestic Princess Cruise Ship, all of the 4,600 people aboard the ship might be compromised.
Forbes writes that with the contagion rate COVID-19 has, and the possibility of getting false negatives from tests, the number of positive cases could actually be higher than 800.
"All positive cases were mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic, and those guests isolated in their staterooms and then separated from non-impacted guests," Princess Cruises representative Briana Latter says.
According to CNN Travel, cruise operators immediately escorted 800 positively identified COVID-19 cases out of the 3,300 passengers and crew who were tested outside of the ship.
Those who tested positive were advised to complete a five-day period of isolation, while those who were negative of the virus were let off the ship.
"Carnival has advised NSW Health that they are assisting passengers with Covid-19 to make safe onward travel arrangements," the New South Wales government announced.
Marguerite Fitzgerald, president of the cruise operator Carnival Australia, assures passengers that they have been implementing rigorous measures to ensure the safety of everyone on board.
"We take our responsibility to keep everyone safe very seriously... not only caring for our guests, but also for the wider community in which we operate and visit," Fitzgerald claims.
In New South Wales alone where the cruise ship is currently docked, the Ministry of Health recorded 19,800 new COVID-19 cases, resulting in 22 deaths last week alone.
Latter tells CNN Travel that the outbreak inside the Majestic Princess Cruise Ship is reflective of how fast the rate of community transmission in Australia goes up.
Despite this, the Majestic princess has since departed Sydney to embark on its journey to Melbourne and Tasmania.
The Majestic Princess Is Not The First Cruise Ship To Experience A COVID-19 Outbreak
The outbreak inside the Majestic Princess Cruise Ship takes Carnival Australia and other cruise ship operators back to what happened in 2020.
It can be remembered that in February 2020, the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship also halted operations unexpectedly when passengers became sick with the virus.
Similarly, the Ruby Princess Cruise Ship also docked in Sydney earlier in the pandemic when an outbreak left people hospitalized or dead.
Because of this, their cruise operators had to stop their operations for the rest of 2020, and going into 2021, Forbes recounts.
While a lot has changed since 2020 with vaccinations and boosters available to the public, a COVID-19 outbreak inside the cruise ship remains a huge concern due to anti-vaccination campaigns.
