Passengers stranded on cruise ship off Panama 'terrified' by Covid-19 outbreak as four die

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Canadian passengers Chris and Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the cruise ship
via Reuters
David Child28 March 2020

Passengers on board a cruise ship stranded off the coast of Panama are "terrified" for their safety after four people died on board and another two were confirmed to have contracted Covid-19.

More than 1,800 people have been cooped up inside the Zaandam since it last docked in Chile two weeks ago, with several Latin American countries closing their ports in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The owners of the Zaandam, Holland America, said in a statement posted on the company's Facebook page on Friday that more than 130 people on board had reported suffering "flu-like symptoms" and respiratory issues.

"Yesterday a number of patients with respiratory symptoms were tested for COVID-19 and two individuals tested positive," the company's statement said.

Passengers on board the Zandaam
REUTERS

Holland America also confirmed that four "older guests" had passed away while on the Zaandam, without giving further details about the causes of death.

Amid rising concern on board, Holland America said it now planned to transfer passengers to a sister ship - the Rotterdam - also located off the western, Pacific coast of Panama.

"Only those who have not been ill will be moved, and health screenings will be conducted before transferring," it said, adding that priority would be given to passengers over the age of 70.

"Once aboard Rotterdam, all guests will continue to remain in their staterooms until disembarkation.

"Any guests who are currently ill, or in isolation as a close contact, and all crew will remain on Zaandam."

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The Zaandam, which was recently denied passage through the Panama Canal, has received medical supplies and medical personnel from the Rotterdam.

There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board the Zaandam, including four doctors and four nurses. There are two doctors and four nurses on the Rotterdam.

The cruise ship is stranded off Panama
REUTERS

The Panama Maritime Authority said in a separate statement on Friday that medical supplies were being delivered to the Zaandam until midnight and then the shipments would resume on Saturday.

It added that it "deeply regrets" the deaths on board "as well as the complex situation the passengers and crew of the Zaandam cruiser go through".

The authority's administrator, Noriel Arauz, had said earlier in the day that no-one on either of Holland America's two ships would be allowed ashore in Panama, which the Health Ministry said had 786 coronavirus cases, with 14 deaths, as of Friday.

But passengers and relatives of those on the Zaandam said they were growing fearful over the situation, with heightened anxiety there could be a major Covid-19 outbreak on board.

Neil Bedford said his parents, Kim and Chris Bedford, from Bradford, and both of whom are in their sixties, were "growing increasingly concerned with what will happen to them".

"There is a new ship alongside them, the Rotterdam, which the healthy will be evacuated to, but they will need testing first before that can happen," he told the Associated Press in a Twitter message.

"They are becoming terrified of being stuck onboard the ship."

Hayley Pillai Johnson, a medical student at Cambridge University, also posted on Twitter, asking questions about her grandfather and his wife.

"We just want them home," she wrote in a message.

Her grandfather, Sethy Pillai, is a 90-year-old retired doctor. His wife, Hazel Pillai, is 75 and has diabetes.

They are from Oxfordshire and Ms Pillai Johnson spoke to them on Friday via WhatsApp as they were quarantined in their room.

"They are scared now they have heard of the four deaths and never thought this would happen," she wrote.

"My grandma has a non-dry cough but no temperature, so has been counted in the 'symptom category'. My grandpa feels tired and scared but is fine.

"Holland America needs to get all guests off this cruise, test them and go from there. We are worried sick about them, especially as the route through Panama Canal has not yet been confirmed and neither has the docking at Port Everglades."

The Zaandam had planned to pass through the Panama Canal en route to Florida, but after being inspected by Panamanian authorities, the request to use the canal was denied, said canal administrator Ricauter Vasquez.

It departed Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7. No-one on board has been off the ship since it last docked on March 14, in Punta Arenas, Chile.

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