The team members onboard Odyssey of the Seas contracted the virus in Spain as the cruise line is led to the U.S., however, no passengers were on board
Of the 1,400 team members on-board the ship, four tested positive for COVID-19 and one team member had inconclusive test results however they had been”immediately quarantined,” USA Today reported. The team allegedly disembarked at the Port of Palma in Mallorca, Spain.
“We’re working with local governments to safely disembark these crew members and oversee any health attention they need,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
The team members were all reportedly asymptomatic, according to USA Today. All team members are mandated to demonstrate evidence of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result and adhere to routine COVID-19 testing onboard the boat, and currently, there are no other cases of COVID-19, a spokesperson confirmed.
The CDC published new advice a month on how cruise businesses could safely resume sailings, allowing voyages to disembark by mid-summer if 98% of team and 95% of passengers are now vaccinated. Royal Caribbean submitted its strategy for evaluation cruises — mock voyages to help cruise companies try out COVID-19 health and security protocols so they could resume sailing — to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and may be approved this week, according to its own site . The company did not specify which port or ship was connected with the program, however.
The CDC last spring issued a”no-sail sequence” forcing cruise companies to halt sailings due to COVID-19 if there were many outbreaks on cruise ships.
In other railroad news, a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean confirmed to Fox News last week it”altered the course” for trips scheduled to leave from Israel as a result of the continuing unrest in Israel and the region.
