New Delhi:The Cordelia cruise ship en route to Goa, aboard which as many as 66 of the 2,000-odd passengers had tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) yesterday, has now been sent back to Mumbai, reported the PTI news agency on Tuesday. Citing an official from a shipping agency, the report said that the decision to send the cruise ship back was taken after a few of the infected persons refused to get admitted to a medical facility in the coastal state.
The Cordelia cruise ship, which was recently on the news in view of a high-profile drugs bust case, was now carrying hordes of New Year revelers from Mumbai to Goa. After a crew member contracted Covid-19, however, samples of all the passengers were tested. Thereafter, as many as 66 passengers on board tested positive for the viral disease, according to Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane.
Govind Pernulkar, manager of operations at JM Baxi and Co, a local ship agent, told the PTI news agency that as many as 27 of the passengers who tested positive refused to get admitted to a Covid-19 facility in Goa.
“Only six crew members out of the total 66 who had tested positive were disembarked [in Goa],” he said.
After considering the situation, the South Goa district administration ordered that the ship along with all the passengers be sent back to Mumbai, he said, adding that the ship was sent back at 11.30pm on Monday and it is expected to reach Mumbai by Tuesday afternoon
“The passengers who were shifted to an isolation facility were also brought back to the ship before it sailed to Mumbai,” Pernulkar said. “The coronavirus positive passengers would be isolated on the ship.”
Notably, some of the infected persons who refused to leave the ship were also travelling along with their families, according to the shipping agent. Many of these family members had tested negative for the viral infection, thus leading to conflicting ideas about isolation on the coastal state.
The Goa administration is likely to impose a night curfew soon between 11pm and 6am, besides cancelling classes for students of classes VIII to XII. The classes will be taken back online.
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