Shortly after a passenger on board the MSC Orchestra’s most recent trip tested positive for COVID-19, another passenger aboard an earlier MSC cruise was confirmed positive, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize during his press briefing today [31 March].
The cruise in question departed on 28 February and returned on 2 March after completing its journey from Durban to Mozambique. The patient who tested positive is a man from the Free State, according to The Newcastle Advertiser.
All passengers on the cruise departing on 28 February as well as the most recent cruise departing on 13 March are urgently advised to isolate themselves and seek medical attention.
Port authorities have been tasked with the job of notifying over 6000 passengers aboard both cruises about the possible health risk.
‘We do understand it’s been a while since they [the passengers] actually disembarked but nevertheless, we think it is important for us to just have a sense of their whereabouts. We want to make sure we can track all the individuals in case they did experience symptoms. It is important for us to go through this process just to close that whole chapter,’ said Mkhize.
‘Passengers, who were on the cruises which departed on February 28 and on March 13, need to approach their medical doctors or Government public facilities to be able to be screened properly. We also just want to get a history of what has happened, if they have had symptoms and so on.’
MSC Cruises has not yet released a statement regarding the former passengers, but has halted all further cruises until 29 May 2020.
Also read: MSC Orchestra ‘followed protocol’
Image: Twitter
