Most cases on cruise ship ‘did not show any symptoms’

HAVING coronavirus without symptoms might be more common than previously thought, a study of people isolated on a cruise ship has shown.

More than 80 per cent of the passengers and crew on the unnamed vessel who tested positive for Covid-19 were asymptomatic.

Virus prevalence on affected cruise ships is therefore likely to be “significantly underestimated”, the study published in the journal Thorax concludes.

“Strategies are needed to assess and monitor all passengers to prevent community transmission after disembarkation,” the Australia-based researchers said. Prof Alan Smyth, joint editor in chief of the journal, said the study’s results could have implications for the easing of lockdown restrictions.

Of the 217 passengers and crew on board, 128 tested positive for the virus. Of those, 104 – 81 per cent – did not have symptoms.

The ship left in mid-march from Argentina for a planned 21-day cruise of the Antarctic, along a similar route taken by explorer Ernest Shackleton in the early 20th century. Two of the study authors were passengers, and a third was the expedition physician.

The first recorded fever on board the ship was on day eight.

From that point, the study authors said, all passengers were confined to their cabins, and surgical masks were issued, while full personal protective equipment was used for any contact with patients with a fever.

Eight people had to be removed from the ship, and the authors said there had been one death to date.