Cruise ship with nearly 200 sick people heads to Florida after 2 test positive for COVID-19
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis speaks out against the ship docking in Florida.
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The president of the Holland America Line is pleading for compassion after several countries had denied docking to its Zaandam cruise ship, which is currently at sea with at least 189 passengers and crew experiencing flu-like symptoms, and some testing positive for coronavirus. Four older guests on the Zaandam had also passed away aboard the same ship last week, though Holland America has not yet confirmed their cause of death.
The Zaandam cruise ship, left, us carrying 189 guests and crew (73 and 116, respectively) who reported feeling ill, Holland America said in an update on Sunday night. The cruise line dispatched another of its ships, the Rotterdam, to rendezvous with the Zaandam to transfer supplies, COVID-19 tests and medical personnel. Healthy guests were also transferred to the Rotterdam on Sunday. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
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Orlando Ashford, the president of Holland America Line, made the plea in an op-ed published Monday in the Sun-Sentinel, adding that these nations have “turned their backs” on the thousands of guests still currently on cruise ships, looking to get home.
“We are dealing with a ‘not my problem’ syndrome,” Ashford wrote.
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Ashford’s comments come as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has actively tried to get the ships diverted away from the state, arguing that Florida’s hospitals cannot handle any more COVID-19 patients.
“We cannot afford to have people who are not even Floridians dumped into South Florida using up those valuable resources,” DeSantis told Fox News. “We view this as a big big problem, and we do not want to see people dumped in Southern Florida right now.”
Earlier on Monday, the Zaandam and another Holland America ship, the Rotterdam, had passed through the Panama Canal and heading toward Fort Lauderdale, Fla., although the ships have not been given formal clearance to dock in Florida as of Tuesday morning, The Associated Press reports.
Former Zaandam passengers Juan Huergo and Laura Gabaroni take a selfie on after they were evacuated from the Zaandam, a Holland American cruise ship, near the Panama Canal. (Juan Huergo via AP)
“Nations are justifiably focused on the COVID-19 crisis unfolding before them, Ashford wrote in his Sun-Sentinel op-ed. “But they’ve turned their backs on thousands of people left floating at sea. Are these reactions based on facts from experts like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or fueled by irrational fear? What happened to compassion and help thy neighbor?”
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Ashford added that the plight of the ship’s guests and crew isn’t their fault, as the Zaandam originally departed from Argentina on March 7, before stricter recommendations against cruise travel were issued. (The CDC had previously warned against cruise travel to some ports in Asia, while the U.S. State Department formally stated on March 8 that citizens should avoid traveling by cruise ship. However, both the Diamond Princess and the Grand Princess — two Princess Cruises ships operated by Carnival, the same parent company as Holland America Line — had already experienced outbreaks of COVID-19).
Holland America had originally announced the temporary suspension of all sailings on March 13. Cruises that departed before that time were instructed to head to ports to allow guests to return home, although Ashford said the Zaandam had trouble finding a South American country willing to allow guests to disembark. As a result, Ashford said the ship was forced to wait for clearance.
Late last week, passengers aboard the Zaandam look out from their balconies while the ship was anchored in the bay of Panama City, Panama, on March 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
“Then March 22 – one day after the voyage’s original end date – a few guests and crew began reporting influenza-like symptoms,” he wrote.
“Already four guests have passed away and I fear other lives are at risk.”
Following the transfer of healthy guests to the Rotterdam on Sunday, there are now 446 guests and 602 crew on the Zaandam, and 797 guests and 645 crew on the Rotterdam.
As of Tuesday, officials in Broward County, Fla., were scheduled to decide whether to let both ships dock at Broward County's Port Everglades cruise ship terminal, according to the AP.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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