7,000 cruise ship passengers in infection drama
MORE than 7,000 people were trapped on a cruise ship in Italy yesterday after a Chinese woman’s flu was mistaken for the deadly coronavirus.
The passenger, from Macau, was quarantined in the medical unit on the Costa Smerelda along with her husband. It followed chaotic scenes after the local coastguard tried to release 1,140 passengers – only for the port’s mayor to turn up at the quayside in a Fiat 500, shouting out of the window: ‘Are you crazy?’
All passengers were then prevented from leaving the ship in Civitavecchia, north of Rome, before the couple received the all-clear.
The 54-year-old Chinese woman was said to have developed a fever and breathing difficulties. Her husband, who did not show any symptoms, was also placed in isolation in a separate room as a precaution.
There was confusion as coastguard captain Vincenzo Leone initially said those due to disembark could leave as planned. He was shut down by mayor Ernesto Tedesco who arrived in the Fiat driven by his assistant and shouted: ‘Who gave the landing order?’
Preliminary tests had already indicated that the couple did not have coronavirus – and it is thought that Mr Leone may have mistaken these for the full test results when he tried to release stranded passengers.
Samples were sent on to a specialist hospital in Rome with final results arriving last night, giving the Chinese couple the all-clear.
The ship will leave today to continue its regular route after a night in Civitavecchia. A spokesman for the cruise liner’s operator said: ‘It is our utmost priority to ensure the health and safety of passengers and crew.’
British passenger Philip Hinkley, 53, said: ‘There’s only a few people that have gone mad. The staff are quite calm.’