8 Passengers Tested Positive for Covid 19 on Costa Cruise

Caribbean News…
18 October 2020 6:46am
Costa Diadema

Eight passengers who sailed on Costa Cruises' Costa Diadema have tested positive for COVID-19, Roger Frizzell, spokesperson for Carnival Corp., the parent company to Costa, confirmed Friday to USA Today

The cruise ship, which continued on its journey carrying all French passengers, will cut its voyage short as France has reinstated its state of health emergency in relation to COVID-19. 

Costa Diadema, which was chartered by a French company and had all French passengers, departed from Genoa on Sept. 28 and ended its journey on Oct. 12. It then departed on a second 14-day voyage with many of the same passengers on board Oct. 12 and returned to Genoa on Friday 10 days earlier than intended.

On Oct. 10, seven passengers from the first sailing disembarked in Palermo after testing positive for COVID-19.

"All guests were tested and required to be negative to board," Frizzell said. "Following excursions in Greek islands, (they were) tested again before returning to Italy, and seven preliminarily tested positive." As part of the cruise line's coronavirus protocols, passengers are required to be tested if they leave the country of the ship's origin and return to that country in accordance with Italian law.

After the news of the positive tests came and the passengers disembarked, they were retested in facilities in Palermo. "(They) were isolated and immediately disembarked in dedicated onshore facilities in Palermo in agreement with Italian health authorities, per protocol," Frizzell said.

The first sailing continued on as planned after disembarking the affected passengers in Palermo and made excursions, including stops in Sardinia and Civitavecchia near Rome, before wrapping up its voyage and then departing for the second voyage Oct. 12.

As a result of the contact tracing, Costa identified one other passenger who displayed symptoms of COVID-19. That passenger was tested on board and retested shoreside and was positive for COVID-19.

"They disembarked one other passenger at a port of call who had symptoms. That was in Naples," he said. "All the guests were tested after that before they came into Genoa." All other passengers tested negative. 

"Based on the epidemiological situation in France and the new limitations introduced by the French government on Oct. 14, we took the decision to anticipate the end of the cruise," Costa Cruises said in a statement provided by Frizzell.

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