Coronavirus scare: cruise ship passengers in Italy free to go after Chinese tourists cleared

Sick Macau woman and travel companion both test negative for coronavirus, ending lockdown of vessel with 7,000 people on board

Country’s first two cases confirmed elsewhere, however, prompting Italy to suspend all flights to China

Reading Time:3 minutes

The Costa Smeralda cruise ship, run by Costa Crociere, is seen docking at the port of Civitavecchia. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:03pm, 30 Jan 2020Updated: 11:16pm, 31 Jan 2020

Thousands of stranded tourists were free to disembark from a cruise ship at an Italian port after authorities said two Chinese passengers feared to have the coronavirus tested negative on Thursday.

Italy’s institute for infectious diseases examined samples taken from a Chinese woman ill with a fever, as well as her travelling companion, and both were negative for coronavirus, the health ministry said.

It was not immediately clear whether passengers, who had been stranded for 12 hours, would disembark from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship on Thursday or Friday.

Some 1,000 new passengers were due to board the ship in Civitavecchia and 1,400 were due to permanently disembark.

The news came as the UN health agency declared an international emergency over the deadly coronavirus from China, and shortly before Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that two cases had been confirmed in Italy, the first in the country.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x