Despite stringent measures meant to minimize Covid outbreaks on ocean cruises, Royal Caribbean says at least 48 people aboard one of its ships which docked in Miami last weekend have tested positive for the virus. .
The Symphony of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, was carrying more than 6 passengers and crew on a week-long trip to the Caribbean when a cruise passenger tested positive, triggering a expanded contact case tracing, according to Royal Caribbean.
Cruise ships had been touted as one of the “safest” vacations in the summer of 2021, when the cruise industry restarted in the United States with new Covid protocols, after an extended shutdown due to the pandemic.
The Symphony of the Seas carried 6 passengers and crew.
The company said 95% of passengers were fully vaccinated. Of those who have since tested positive, 98% were fully vaccinated. The total number of cases amounts to 0,78% of the population on board.
It is not yet known whether the highly infectious Omicron variant, which is currently spreading rapidly around the world, is responsible for the cases detected. The Symphony of the Seas departed Miami, Florida on December 11, and made a stopover in St. Maarten on the 14th.
Royal Caribbean says it landed six positive cases earlier in the cruise, while other positive travelers disembarked on December 18, when the trip ended.
The cruise line added that future Symphony of the Seas voyages have not been affected.
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