Mexico evacuates COVID-19 passenger from British cruise ship

Mexican naval personnel said Tuesday they have evacuated a suspected coronavirus patient with “acute respiratory infection” from the British cruise ship Marella Explorer 2.

The ship operated by Marella Cruises, part of British company TUI Travel, was anchored 1.5 nautical miles (3 kilometers) off the Yucatan state port of Puerto Progreso.

Photos provided by the Mexican Navy showed personnel in full protective suits and masks approaching the cruise ship in a small boat late Monday.

The Navy said they “evaluated people suspected of having been infected with COVID-19” aboard the ship, but did not say whether they were tested or what the results were.

They then took a male passenger back to shore on a gurney for treatment. The Navy said he was in “critical condition.”

It was unclear if the ship, which can hold about 1,800 passengers, has requested permission to dock or disembark in Puerto Progreso, or whether it would be allowed to.

The Mexican government has allowed cruise ships to dock in the past and disembark passengers or crew for humanitarian reasons.

Its home port is Bridgetown, Barbados, and it was on a seven-day Caribbean island cruise scheduled to end April 5. Puerto Progreso was not apparently a scheduled port of call.