Ship Costa Fascinosa docks in Rio with seven cases of covid-19 on board
Passengers began their journey on December 30th.
Agency Brazil - The Costa Fascinosa cruise ship arrived this morning (6) at Pier Mauá, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Throughout the morning, all passengers who boarded on December 30 will disembark.
According to the operator Costa Cruises, the ship left the Port of Santos on Monday (3), where there were no embarkations. According to the latest information released by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), two cases of covid-19 were reported among the crew and five among the passengers of the Costa Fascinosa, who will have to quarantine for 10 days in the city.
The company announced that it has voluntarily suspended its cruises in Brazilian ports until January 21, 2022, due to COVID-19 outbreaks that occurred on board ships and to recommendation from Anvisa.
As a result, passenger embarkations for the Costa Diadema cruise ship in Santos on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th, and in Salvador scheduled for the 6th, 13th, and 20th of January, have been cancelled.
The Costa Fascinosa has cancelled its departures from Santos on January 3rd, 10th and 18th; from Rio de Janeiro on January 6th and 14th; and from Itajaí on January 08th and 16th.
According to the company, passengers affected by the cancellations will have the option of receiving credit for a new trip or a refund of the amounts paid.
Costa Cruises is informing travel agents and all guests of the Costa Diadema and Costa Fascinosa – the company's two ships in Brazil for the 2021/22 season – affected by the cancellations. Costa Cruises offers the option to convert the amount paid for the cruise into a [contract/loan/etc.]. voucher Credit to be used until December 31, 2022, for embarkations until June 30, 2023. The alternative of a full refund of the cruise price will also be offered, to be executed within the deadlines of Law 14.046 of 2020 (its amendments and extensions).
MSC Preziosa
Yesterday (5) passengers from the MSC Preziosa ship also disembarked in Rio de Janeiro. The first information from Anvisa was that there were 25 crew members and eight passengers on board with covid-19. The ship was headed to the Northeast, but due to rain in the region, the end of the trip was brought forward by four days.
According to the Municipal Health Department (SMS), after a joint investigation carried out on board with the State Health Department (SES) and Anvisa, 81 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on the MSC Preziosa, including 61 crew members and 20 passengers, of which 16 are Brazilian, two of whom are residents of the city, and four are foreigners.
"All these cases and their contacts are in isolation. The 16 Brazilians have mild symptoms and are clinically well. Samples were collected for laboratory investigation by RT-PCR and, if they meet the laboratory criteria, they will be sequenced by Fiocruz to identify the variant," informed the SMS (Municipal Health Secretariat).
Residents of Rio de Janeiro and nearby cities were sent into home isolation, while residents from outside Rio were housed in a hotel. The crew remained aboard the ship and are being monitored by the ship's health team.
Passengers embarked on the MSC Preziosa on Sunday (2), the same day that 28 people with Covid-19 had disembarked from the ship in Rio de Janeiro.
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