Australian Cruise Ship with Coronavirus-Positive Cases Allowed to Dock in Montevideo

Caribbean News…
09 April 2020 8:01am
Greg Mortimer cruise ship at sea

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay issued a statement allowing Aurora Expedition’s Greg Gregor Cruise ship carrying at least 128 positive cases of Covid-19 -including passengers and crew members combined- to dock in the port of Montevideo.

The Uruguayan Navy said that the Greg Mortimer was originally scheduled to be docked mid-Friday on local time to allow Uruguayan authorities to quell the epidemic, paving the way to Carrasco Airport to send sick passengers and crew members home.

An Australian aircraft equipped with medical and anti-infectious devices touched down in Uruguay on Thursday and will fly back to Melbourne Australia On Saturday, April 11.

There are still no reports of how many European and American passengers will return. Initially, the Aurora shipping company said that the Uruguayan authorities will separate, quarantine and check for infection. If negative, this group of passengers will be flown home from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Greg Mortimer, a cruise liner operated by Australia's Aurora Expeditions, departed March 15 on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia. Since the beginning of April, however, the ship has been stuck off the coast of Uruguay, after authorities refused to allow passengers to disembark due to the risk of coronavirus.

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