By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_ A Royal Caribbean ship cut short its ‘cruise to nowhere’ and returned to Singapore after a passenger tested positive for COVID-19.
The captain of the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship confirmed this incident over the public announcement system earlier today, and had requested guests to remain in their rooms as the ship returned to Singapore.
Accordingly, the ship docked at the Marina Bay Cruise Center at 8am today (Dec 9), on day three of its four-day cruise to nowhere, and according to Annie Chang, director of cruise at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the relevant passenger is an 83-year-old male Singaporean.
Chang said the passenger had tested negative prior to boarding the ship, but had later reported to the on-board medical centre with diarrhoea. Subsequently, he had undergone a mandatory PCR test, as part of on-board protocols.
In an updated statement, Chang confirmed that the passenger has been hospitalised for further testing.
At the time the incident was reported, the cruise ship had 1,680 guests and 1,148 crew members on board, and the relevant passenger’s close contacts had undergone PCR tests and tested negative for COVID-19.
Nevertheless, Chang said that the remaining guests and crew members will remain on the ship until contact tracing is completed, as part of infection control protocols.
