More than two weeks after the new coronavirus was declared a pandemic, a cruise ship with hundreds of Canadian passengers remains at sea with dozens of ill people on board and four fatalities.
The MS Zaandam was looking to head to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after recently being granted permission to transit the Panama Canal, but whether it can dock is unclear.
The company, Holland America Line, says it’s still finalizing the details for where and when the cruise will disembark.
READ MORE: COVID-19 —Why quarantining passengers on a cruise ship was a bad idea
Four “older” passengers have died on the ship, according to the operator, and there are 73 guests and 116 crew members on board with influenza-like illness. Two people have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
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The company has transferred healthy passengers to a second ship, the MS Rotterdam, which is headed for the same port.
Jocelyne Parent, a 75-year-old Woodbridge, Ont., resident, is on board with a friend.
1:35Coronavirus outbreak: Cruise ship with sick workers docks in Miami Beach, Fla.
Coronavirus outbreak: Cruise ship with sick workers docks in Miami Beach, Fla.
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Michele Parent,
