Omicron On Cruise Mode: Ship Passengers Contract COVID

Miami: Omicron seems to be on ‘cruise’ mode now.

A total of 48 passengers who travelled on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas cruise tested COVID-positive after the ship docked in Miami on Saturday.

One of those passengers tested positive for the Omicron variant.

All COVID-positive passengers have been quarantined.

The ship, carrying 6,074 passengers and crew members, departed on December 11 and returned to Miami on December 18 after cruising around the Eastern Caribbean.

“Six people who tested positive disembarked the ship mid-voyage and were transported home. The remaining guests received assistance upon arrival,” Royal Caribbean spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA Today.

All the passengers were informed when one of them tested positive for Omicron variant of coronavirus.

“We were notified by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that a guest on board our (December) 4th cruise tested positive and it was identified as omicron,” the spokesperson said.

Royal Caribbean further informed that 95% of passengers and crew members were fully vaccinated, while children below 12 had to undergo two negative tests before boarding the ship.

This is the second time this month that a cruise ship had reported COVID-19 infections. In the previous case, the cruise ship travelled from New Orleans and took the Caribbean route.