Coronavirus: Elderly couple among 17 from TN stranded on cruise ship docked in Egypt

An elderly couple from here is among the 17 passengers from Tamil Nadu stranded in a cruise ship anchored in River Nile in Egypt after 45 people onboard it tested positive for coronovirus, according to their family. After the ship with 171 tourists docked in the Nile near Luxor City in Egypt, all the passengers were screened and 45, including 12 crew members, have tested positive for Covid-19 and later shifted to a hospital.

One passenger from Chennai was taken to a hospital in Alexandria on Saturday, after he developed symptoms, relatives of the Coimbatore couple, aboard the ship, said. Considering the safety, all the other passengers would be quarantined for 14 days, the relatives said quoting information received by them from the couple. Rangaraj (62), the founder of children's home 'Saranalayam', and his wife Vanitha (60) are among those quarantined in the ship. They were to have returned here on Saturday.

The passengers from Tamil Nadu, including the wife of the Chennai man who has been hospitalised, are expecting the Centre to bring them back safely, they said. They had set out on the tour on February 27 aboard the ship 'A Sara'. The tour was organised by Salem-based tour operator Grand Royal Tours.

Meanwhile, PMK leader S Ramadoss demanded that those stranded in the Egyptian ship be rescued and the government ensure that they were provided with food and medical facilities. Proper medical assistance be provided to those being treated at a hospital in Egypt, he tweeted.