Royal Caribbean International has planned to halt the two cruises out of Singapore following the traces of COVID-19 were found on the ship among some of its crew members. Royal Caribbean said the sailing affected were those on Monday and Thursday aboard its 169,000-dwt Quantum of the Seas.
While hiding the exact numbers of COVID-19 cases on the board, Royal Caribbean said, “A small number of the crew had tested positive against COVID-19.”
While addressing the media, the company said that the cruises were halted due to an abundance of caution despite only 0.6% of the ship’s crew testing positive for the contagious mutants.
Royal Caribbean authorities have said that the number of positive-tested crew members is already under isolation, while close contacts were quarantined and tested.
The cruise line has further added that, “As per the safety protocols, the ship will also go through a deep cleaning and disinfection.”
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has listed several countries while advising citizens not to travel to those destinations.
Since mid-December, the US government authorities have added more than 60 nations and territories to the list of places to avoid, citing the Omicron-new variant of COVID-19.
Earlier in January, Royal Caribbean’s 169,000-gt Spectrum of the Seas (built-in 2019), a vessel carrying 3,700 people, was ordered back to the port in Hong Kong after nine people were found to be close contacts in an Omicron variant outbreak.
