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 All passengers aboard the Quantum of the Seas vessel had cleared a
mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the virus up to
three days before the four-day cruise started on Monday.
Authorities said close contacts of the patient among the 1,680
guests and 1,148 crew members on board have so far tested negative
and that all passengers must isolate in their rooms as contact
tracing continued on Wednesday afternoon.
The patient, an 83-year-old male, had reported to the ship's medical
centre with diarrhoea and a subsequent onboard test revealed the
infection. He was taken to hospital on Wednesday after the ship
returned to port.
Other guests, who authorities say may be able to leave the ship on
Wednesday evening, were awoken with the news of the infection in the
early hours.
"I was like: 'there it goes, the worst fear has happened'," said
passenger Melvin Chew, a 31-year-old business development manager,
who said he learned about the infected guest via an announcement on
the ship's tannoy around 3 a.m. (1900 GMT Tuesday).
The Quantum of the Seas returned to Singapore at 8 a.m. local time
(0000 GMT), and as of 5 p.m. passengers were still being asked to
isolate in their cabins. All passengers will undergo mandatory
COVID-19 testing before leaving the terminal.
The patient, wearing a full-length white protective suit, was
escorted down the ship's gangway to a waiting ambulance just after 2
p.m.
Shortly after, the ship's captain told passengers over the tannoy
that the ship was being deep-cleaned and that a further update would
come around 7 p.m.
"We do understand that this is not how you planned to spend your
cruise and again ladies and gentlemen, I am terribly sorry," the
captain said in a recording heard by Reuters.
"REALITY CHECK"
The 'cruise-to-nowhere' by Royal Caribbean is one of its first
sailings since the company halted global operations in March due to
the coronavirus.
The sailing in waters off Singapore is open only to Singapore
residents and makes no stops.
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The cruises are a part of Singapore's plans to revive its tourism industry that
has been battered due to the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than
67.7 million people globally and killed 1,548,575.
Singapore, which has had just over 58,000 cases and 29 deaths, has been
reporting less than a handful of daily infections in recent weeks.
Part of the precautions for the resumption of cruises in Singapore involved
pre-departure testing within 48 to 72 hours prior to boarding and for guests to
carry an electronic contact tracing device, wear masks and social distance at
all times.
"I really don't know how the patient has gotten it," said another passenger
Muhammad Rezal Ramli, 40, who had taken the cruise with his two young children.
Infectious diseases experts said there could be many reasons why the patient got
through pre-departure screenings.
They said the PCR test may have been a false negative or did not pick up
fragments of an old virus, or the patient may have been incubating at the time
or was infected between the test and boarding.
"It is a reality check that the current tests are not perfect," said Paul
Tambyah, President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and
Infection.
The infected case's close contacts will be placed in quarantine or health
surveillance, Singapore's health ministry said in an advisory sent to
passengers.
Others will need to monitor their health, while continuing regular activities
including going to school or work, and undergo a swab test at the end of a
14-day monitoring period.
(Reporting by Chen Lin, Yi Shu Ng, Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie; Writing
by John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Michael Perry and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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