COVID-19 outbreak hits 3 cruise ships as Florida breaks case record: Coronavirus updates: NPR
Nomi Health employees check in a large number of people for COVID-19 tests on Tuesday in North Miami, Florida.
Marta Lavandier / AP
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Marta Lavandier / AP
Nomi Health employees check in a large number of people for COVID-19 tests on Tuesday in North Miami, Florida.
Marta Lavandier / AP
MIAMI – A COVID-19 outbreak occurred on a South Florida-based cruise ship for the third time this week, when the number of coronavirus cases in Florida reached its highest level since the start of the pandemic.
An unknown number of passengers and crew aboard the Carnival Freedom cruise caught the virus, so the ship was denied entry to Bonaire and Aruba, Carnival said in a statement.
The ship has 2,497 passengers and 1,112 crew members and was scheduled to return to Miami on Sunday after an 8-day cruise. Passengers were required to be vaccinated and they were tested before leaving last Saturday, according to Carnival.
“Carnival Freedom follows all protocols and has a small number on board that are isolated due to a positive COVID test,” the statement said. “Our protocols provide for this capability and we implement them as needed to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew.”
Ashley Peterson, a passenger on the ship, twitret a picture of a letter dated December 22 from the ship’s captain regretting that he could not make a stop at Aruba and Bonaire. The letter said that passengers would receive $ 100 per room in credit on board, as well as a refund for planned excursions.
It was the third eruption this week affecting cruise ships operated by Carnival and Royal Caribbean departing from Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Meanwhile, Florida had 31,758 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, breaking a record for most cases in a single day since the start of the US pandemic in March 2020, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new record was driven by the spread of the new omicron variant through Sunshine State.
The previous highest number of cases in one day was in August last year, below the height of the delta variant wave in Florida, when 27,802 cases were reported.
