Trump wants Florida officials to welcome cruise ship hit by coronavirus

US President Donald Trump urged Florida officials to let the passengers of a cruise ship, hit by the novel coronavirus, disembark by opening an Atlantic Coast port. During a White House briefing, Trump said that people are “dying on the ship” and he is going to do the “right thing” for humanity.

The fate of the passengers and crew of Holland America Line’s MS Zaandam is hanging by a thread since it is heading towards Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis has opposed the docking of the cruise ship. Last week, four passengers on a cruise ship off the pacific coast of the Panama coast died and over 130 people on board were displaying influenza-like symptoms.

Healthy passengers transferred

The cruise line transferred nearly two-thirds of guests onboard MS Zaandam to Rotterdam, a sister ship, after health screening with strict protocols developed in conjunction with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The transfer was completed after the vessel operator received approval from Panamanian authorities to conduct ship-to-ship operations at anchor between the two vessels.

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On March 22, a number of guests and crew members reported to the ship’s medical centre with influenza-like symptoms after which they were asked to remain in their staterooms. There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew onboard Zaandam with four doctors and four nurses. Since then, 53 guests and 85 crew members have reported influenza-like illness symptoms.

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The cruise sailed on March 7 from Buenos Aires and was originally scheduled to end at San Antonio, Chile, on March 21. However, the cruise decided to suspend its operations for 30 days amid the global health crisis and now it has decided to extend its pause of global cruise operations for an additional 30 days,

“As the world addresses global health concerns, travel has come to a temporary standstill as communities take necessary precautions to protect themselves,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.

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