Two Coronavirus-Stricken Cruise Ships Get the Green Light to Dock in Florida

Holland America has reached a deal with authorities that will allow the cruise line to dock two of its ships, the MS Zaandam and MS Rotterdam, at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

According to a news report posted on USA Today, four elderly passengers on the Zaandam died. Two of the four deaths on board the Zaandam have been blamed on COVID-19, and nine people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said.

Between the Zaandam and Rotterdam a total of 107 passengers and 143 crew members have presented flu-like symptoms since March 22, according to a Holland America statement provided by spokesperson Sally Andrews. Symptoms of the flu and COVID-19, the coronavirus sweeping the globe, are similar. 

Passengers who passed a health screening were transferred to the Rotterdam last weekend. The passengers on board both ships will be put into three basic categories..

The first group, which includes around 1,200 passengers who are asymptomatic, will be allowed to disembark Friday or Saturday. Then they will be taken in chartered buses directly to the airport tarmac, where they will board charter flights. They will also go through separate customs and border patrol processes. 

Passengers have been isolated in their rooms since March 22 unless they made a transfer to the Rotterdam from the Zaandam, when they would have been on a tender between the two ships for a brief period.

The second group, containing 45 symptomatic passengers will remain on board the ship. All those passengers will be required to quarantine on board. Once they are asymptomatic for 72 hours, they will be allowed to disembark under the same protocol as the first group.

And the third group, made up of only nine people, contains eight passengers and one crew member in need of critical care. All nine will be taken off the ship. The rest of the crew will remain on board.