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The Zaandam cruise ship was allowed to dock in Florida on April 2, 2020. Photo: ZUMA Wire/dpa

Coronavirus: infected Indonesian crew member of Zaandam cruise ship dies in Florida

  • The man was hospitalised last week after the Zaandam, which had been stranded at sea for two weeks, was allowed to dock in Florida
  • His death raises the ship’s coronavirus-related death toll to four
An Indonesian crew member on the coronavirus-hit Zaandam cruise ship who was hospitalised after the vessel was finally allowed to dock in the US state of Florida has died, officials said, raising the ship’s virus-related death toll to four.

Craig Mallak, the medical examiner of Broward County, on Thursday confirmed the death of Wiwit Widarto, 50, who had tested positive for Covid-19.

The man died on Wednesday, six days after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in the Fort Lauderdale port after spending two weeks at sea rejected by South American ports, said a Holland America Line spokesman. He had been taken to a Florida hospital the same day the ship docked.

Four elderly passengers had already died before the cruise ships arrived, and the medical examiner said earlier this week that three of those people tested positive for Covid-19. The fourth person’s death was caused by a viral infection. Mallak said he tested negative for the new virus but had been dead for 12 days before he was examined.

Medics pull out a patient on a stretcher from the Zaandam cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale on April 2, 2020. Photo: AFP

About 1,200 passengers disembarked the Zaandam and sister ship, the Rotterdam, which was sent to replenish the first with supplies and crew members who were falling ill. The cruise company, federal officials, and Florida authorities negotiated for days before allowing disembarkation.

The cruise line says 29 passengers who were kept aboard because they were mildly ill were expected to finally travel home Thursday on charter flights, a week after arriving in Florida.

The Zaandam departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, a day before the US State Department advised people to avoid cruise travel, and a week before most cruise lines halted their sailings.

Passengers from the Zaandam cruise ship arrive at Heathrow Airport after flying back on a repatriation flight from Florida on April 4, 2020. Photo: PA Wire/dpa
Meanwhile, about a dozen international guests will remain in quarantine aboard the Coral Princess, which docked last weekend in Miami with coronavirus cases, according to a Princess Cruises statement.
Many former Coral Princess passengers left South Florida on five charter flights Thursday, the company said. One flight was domestic while the others were heading to South America and Europe.

Despite continued efforts through diplomatic channels, the company said current travel restrictions by home countries are preventing homeward travel for 13 international guests, and local authorities will not authorise the use of local hotels. The guests will remain with Coral Princess crew members for a self-imposed 14-day quarantine. The ship was set to leave PortMiami Thursday evening.

Two passengers died before the Coral Princess docked in Miami and a third died later at a hospital. It is not clear if the deaths were caused by Covid-19. The ship originally left Chile on March 5. Passengers were supposed to disembark in Argentina on March 19.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday announced the extension of a “no sail order” for all cruise ships. Officials did not say when they expected the order to end.

“We are working with the cruise line industry to address the health and safety of crew at sea as well as communities surrounding US cruise ship points of entry,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement. “The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of Covid-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of Covid-19 on its workforce throughout the remainder of this pandemic.”

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