Goa: 66 Of 2K People On Cordelia Cruise Ship Test COVID-19 Positive
As many as 66 of the over 2,000 people on board the Cordelia cruise ship, which came to Goa from Mumbai, have tested positive for COVID-19, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Monday.
The cruise liner, where the NCB busted a high-profile rave party in October last year, was carrying hordes of New Year revellers.
A medical team in PPE kits came on board to conduct RT-PCR tests of the passengers and crew members, and the sample testing process continued till Monday afternoon.
The testing of those on board the vessel was necessitated after a crew member was found infected with the coronavirus on Sunday, an official said.
Officials had instructed that no one should disembark from the ship till the result of the RT-PCR tests was declared
The liner is anchored close to Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) cruise terminal.
In the afternoon, Rane tweeted, “Out of 2000 samples tested from Cordelia cruise ship, 66 passengers tested positive for #COVID19. Respective collectors and MPT staff have been informed. The authorities will decide whether to allow disembarking of passengers from the ship.” The ship, operated by a private firm, had arrived at Mormugao Port Trust in Goa on Sunday.
Goa on Wednesday reported eight new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus and five of the patients have no recent travel history, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said.
With this, the number of Omicron cases in the coastal state has gone up to 19.
Rane tweeted, 8 Genome sequence reports tested positive as confirmed by NIV Pune, bringing the (Omicron) count to 19. 3- travel history from UK, 5- no travel history. These 5 from Goa, i.e. Margao, Bardez, Chicalim, and Canacona. The first case of Omicron was detected in Goa on December 28, 2021, when an eight-year-old boy from the UK had tested positive for the highly contagious strain of SARS-CoV-2 discovered in South Africa late last year.
(PTI)
