Canadian passengers on Coral Princess cruise ship heading home: Champagne
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Canadian passengers on the Coral Princess cruise ship will be headed home today, after undergoing a health screening.
Champagne said in a tweet that Canadians who don’t show any symptoms of COVID-19 will be allowed to disembark the ship in Florida and get on a flight chartered by Holland America.
The minister said they will be screened again upon arrival and subject to a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period.
Some passengers were allowed off the ship yesterday but Canadians weren’t among them due to new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Those guidelines said cruise passengers shouldn’t board commercial flights, meaning only those with chartered flights were able to disembark.
Two passengers have died on the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, which docked Saturday morning in Miami.
There are 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members aboard the Princess Cruises ship, which set sail on March 5 on a South American cruise.
Ninety-seven of the passengers and two of the crew members are Canadian.
UPDATE REGARDING <a href=»https://twitter.com/hashtag/CoralPrincess?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>#CoralPrincess</a> <br><br>Canadians who are not symptomatic will be able to return to ?? tomorrow on an <a href=»https://twitter.com/HALcruises?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@HALcruises</a> charter following health screening.<br><br>Upon arrival they will be screened again and subject to a mandatory 14 day self-isolation. <a href=»https://t.co/E0k6Bt2mfQ»>pic.twitter.com/E0k6Bt2mfQ</a>
—@FP_Champagne
