Sixty-six people on board a Mumbai-Goa cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told PTI on Monday. The ship has over 2,000 passengers, and those on board have been stuck as they wait for their Covid test results.
Shipping firm JM Baxi and Company official Govind Pernulkar said that they were first informed that a crew member had tested positive around 9 am. He said that the ship was stopped and government authorities were informed.
“The tests have been done for the rest of the members, once the report comes, we will decide our next course of action,” Pernulkar told ANI. “As of now, the ship is on its berth. Nobody is allowed to get on and off the deck.”
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Coronavirus: Goa records 388 new cases, 10.7% test positivity rate after New Year celebrations
The testing of the passengers on the cruise ship, Cordelia Cruises’ Empress, began as the Goa government did not allow disembarking after a crew member tested positive, reported The Times of India.
“We have not allowed them to dock the ship,” Rane told the newspaper. “They have a tie-up with a private hospital for Covid testing, and we’ve told them to test all passengers for Covid-19 before they leave the ship.”
Mormugao Port Trust Deputy Chairman Guruprasad Rai said that all the passengers had received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
“The ship doctor had tested a crew member who had a fever for a day,” an unidentified official of the port trust told The Times of India. “The vessel was kept outside the port limits while the authorities were informed.”
On Sunday, Goa registered 388 coronavirus cases and recorded 10.7% test positivity rate following Christmas and New Year celebrations. The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. There are 1,671 active Covid-19 cases in the coastal state.
As of the Union health ministry’s data on Monday morning, Goa has reported 1,671 active Covid-19 cases, 1,76,376 recoveries and 3,523 fatalities.
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