According to South Africa's state-owned Transport Group(Transnet),“MV AidAmira”, the cruise ship which carried 1,000 people, and a cargo ship would be quarantined in South Africa because a seafarer on one of the ships developed the symptoms of Coronavirus infection, the Reuters reported.
It is reported that this is the first suspected case of COVID-19 in South Africa's seaport, the state-owned Transport Group said in a statement. The company said that it had identified the suspected patient as a crew member from the “MV Corona”, who had been on the same flight with a colleague from the ship and six passengers from “MV AidAmira”.
At present, the six passengers on the Italian-flagged “MV AidAmira” have been quarantined and have not yet shown any symptoms of virus infection from the Novel Coronavirus. The rest of the people on the cruise which initially carried 1240 passengers and 486 crew are all quarantined onboard.
South African’s citizens should avoid taking cruise ships till they receive further notice, the South Africa's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
“MV Corona” left Cape Town on March 11th, but after patients onboard began showing symptoms of illness, the captain contacted harbor authority and asked for return.
It is reported that according to the Ministry of Health of South African, a total of 85 people in South Africa tested positive for novel Coronavirus and there were 23 new confirmed cases by Tuesday, including 8 cases of local transmission and a 2-year-old boy. On Sunday, Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa declared that South Africa is in a state of national disaster.