Cruise ship with COVID-19 patients awaits entry into Progreso, Yucatán

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Progreso Mayor Julián Zacarías Curi said he is reviewing the issue with the Ministry of Tourism Development.

A cruise ship with four ailing crew members – stricken by the coronavirus — is off the Yucatan coast with plans to dock in Progreso between 5 and 6 p.m. today, according to news reports.

The Cruise Mapper website indicated that the 1,900-passenger Marella Explorer 2 was close to the Progreso cruise ship dock shortly before 5.

The cruise ship was stranded in Barbados after the virus was reported, said an English newspaper, the Independent. On humanitarian grounds, it will be accepted at Progreso’s South Cruise Ship Dock at the SSA Mexico Cruise Terminal, according to Yucatan Ahora, quoting Jorge Baqueiro Baqueiro, a customs agent.

Most of the passengers and crew were transferred to the United Kingdom by air, but the boat’s owner, TUI Cruises, denied that any crew had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Most of the cruise ship’s crew were evacuated by air, some were unable to travel as they are reported ill with flu symptoms, the shipping company said.

Progreso, Yucatán (Archive)

The cruise ship will disembark 50 British passengers, who will be transferred to the airport for lunch or to board a plane that will take them directly to England, Diario de Yucatan reported this afternoon. Earlier in Barbados, 200 passengers disembarked the cruise ship.

Mayor Julián Zacarías Curi reported that he is reviewing the issue with the Ministry of Tourism Development (Sefotur).

Source: YEL

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