Two people on the Coral Princess cruise ship died overnight, after the ship reported 12 positive cases of coronavirus on Thursday, according to an announcement from the ship’s captain, who said the ship likely wouldn’t arrive in South Florida on Saturday as planned, but would rather make landfall on Sunday.
The captain didn’t say whether the deceased had tested positive for the virus, but he confirmed they were treated in the ship’s medical center.
“I know how difficult this news is to bear, but given the current situation, we remain committed to transparent and consistent communication with you,” he said. “This information will need to be shared with shoreside authorities and will become public, so I wanted you to hear it from me first,” the Captain said, according to a recording of the announcement provided to the Washington Post.
Appearing to follow a similar playbook to the Zaandam – another Carnival-subsidiary-owned cruise ship that docked along with another ship in Port Everglades this week after several passengers and crew had died of the virus, and the ship had been refused entry to several ports – Princess Cruises said guests who are deemed “fit to fly” are expected to start disembarking Sunday and will transfer straight to Miami International Airport to catch flights home. Meanwhile, anyone with respiratory symptoms who is not too sick to require immediate hospitalization, or who is recovering from being sick previously, will stay on the ship until they are cleared by doctors on board.
The ship is carrying 1,898 people, including 1,020 guests. It left San Antonio, Chile, on March 5, a week before the cruise line announced it would suspend operations after the debacle with the “Diamon Princess”, which became host to what was at the time the biggest outbreak outside mainland China after it docked in Yokohama.
At least 12 infected individuals who traveled aboard the “Diamond Princess” eventually died from their infections.