Coronavirus: passengers stranded on World Dream cruise ship in Hong Kong ‘could be allowed to leave as soon as Tuesday’
- All 35 crew members and nine passengers who had earlier reported fever or respiratory symptoms test negative for deadly coronavirus
- Chief port health officer at the Centre for Health Protection says all workers on ship will be tested by Tuesday and if clear, everyone can disembark
Thousands of passengers stranded on a cruise ship docked in Hong Kong could leave as soon as Tuesday if all crew members on board test negative for the coronavirus, the health authorities announced on Saturday.
Dr Leung Yiu-hong, chief port health officer at the Centre for Health Protection, said all 35 crew members and nine travellers on the World Dream who had earlier reported fever or respiratory symptoms were found not to have the virus.
But some passengers remained uncertain of their fate, with tensions rising as film screenings and mahjong were dropped from on-board entertainment and small arguments broke out.
Leung said it was still possible that most of the 1,800 crew members on the ship had contact with the eight infected travellers who had been on the ship during an earlier cruise in January, or other passengers who had encountered the patients on that same trip.
To be safe, all workers would be tested for the virus as suggested by medical experts, he said.
“We expect the test will take four days to complete,” he said. “If all samples for all crew members test negative, then passengers should be able to get off the ship.”
The World Dream left Hong Kong for Taiwan on February 2 carrying more than 1,800 passengers and about the same number of crew members.