Coronavirus: Hong Kong suspends ‘cruises to nowhere’ for 2 weeks after ship ordered to cut sailing short for emergency passenger testing
- Spectrum of the Seas returns a day early so thousands of passengers and staff on board can undergo screening
- Passengers disappointed over sudden end to trip, with some blaming aircrew earlier found to have breached isolation rules for Hong Kong’s declining Covid-19 situation
About 2,500 cruise ship passengers were required on Wednesday to cut short their trip and return to Hong Kong for compulsory coronavirus testing after nine of them were identified as close contacts of a preliminary-positive case linked to a suspected new Omicron cluster. They all later tested negative.
In light of the health risks, the government told Royal Caribbean International and Genting Cruise Lines to suspend all voyages until January 20. Flights from several Western countries will also be suspended for two weeks, while 15 types of premises were ordered shut in a bid to snuff out a fifth wave of infections.
Tourism sector lawmaker Yiu Pak-leung said both cruise ships were fully booked over the Christmas holidays, as well as the coming Lunar New Year season, and he lamented that the suspension would affect thousands of customers.
“The cruise companies have done all they can by strictly complying with the vaccination and testing requirements. They have no choice but to be prudent,” he said.