Janelle Irwin Taylor
A cruise ship is lingering off the coast of Florida as two crew members await test results to find out whether the contracted the coronavirus.
The crew members transferred to a Florida-based ship from the Grand Princess cruise ship in California where 21 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus were confirmed. Of those, 19 were crew members.
The Florida-bound ship was supposed to dock in Port Everglades Sunday morning, but instead is sailing back and forth along Florida’s coast as tests are run.
Neither crew member being tested have shown symptoms of the virus, the Carnival Corporation said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had the U.S. Coast Guard deliver test kits to the ship Sunday and issued a no-sail order for the ship as tests are taken, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The Regal Princess was scheduled to leave Port Everglades later Sunday for a seven-day Caribbean cruise, but that trip has been cancelled as the ship awaits clearance to dock.
Passengers delayed on the ship were blocked from buffet fair and self-service water stations removed, but otherwise activities continued as usual — an upgrade from conditions on a previous cruise where passengers were confined to their rooms.
Two people in Broward County near Port Everglades have tested positive for COVID-19, one of which worked at the Port.
So far, 17 cases have been diagnosed in Florida, including 11 who were Florida residents, and two people have died.
Officials continue to remind individuals the risk from the virus is low for healthy young people and adults, with the highest risk reserved for the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
The two deaths in Florida were both senior citizens who had recently traveled abroad.
The Florida Department of Health confirmed five new cases of the virus Saturday, one-day after officials announced the two deaths on the east coast of Florida.
One of the latest cases came from Manatee county where the individual is being isolated and “appropriately cared for.”
Other new cases were reported in Lee, Charlotte, Okaloosa and Volusia counties.
Officials anticipated an increase in positive COVID-19 cases as more individuals began being tested now that Florida has three centers to process tests in Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville and after officials began testing in cases even if the person with symptoms did not report recent travel or contact with a person carrying the virus.
As of Saturday, state officials said 87 tests were will pending and 107 tests had come back negative. Another 278 patients were being monitored as of Saturday.
