Coronavirus: thousands more cruise passengers might have been exposed to deadly infection
- Ship’s operator admits World Dream made three more trips than first revealed, as thousands remain trapped on board
- Cruise liner returned to city after being denied entry to Kaohsiung, but that was its fourth trip after eight infected passengers had disembarked
Thousands more people than previously thought might have been exposed to the deadly coronavirus, after a cruise line admitted one of its ships had sailed four times since carrying eight mainland Chinese passengers infected with the disease.
The revelation sparked fears of a wider outbreak in Hong Kong, and came the day after three crew members were hospitalised following the vessel’s return to the city.
Hong Kong health officials said they were yet to contact about 200 passengers who took the same trip with the eight patients and disembarked in the city. They also appealed to about 5,000 passengers on the subsequent trips to call their hotline if they felt unwell.
On Thursday, almost 4,000 passengers and crew remained trapped on the World Dream at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal after it was turned away from Taiwan following the discovery it had carried the infected group during a January cruise between Hong Kong and Vietnam.
The 1,800 passengers, including 1,600 from Hong Kong and others from Britain, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Macau and elsewhere, together with most of the other 1,800 crew members, were all still on the ship, which left the city on Sunday for its latest voyage, and was boarded by Department of Health officials on its return on Wednesday morning.
A 66-year-old man stranded on the ship said passengers had been told to stay in their rooms on Thursday, so government officers could check their body temperatures.