Pensacola, Florida
Officials said one of the crew members who was hospitalized for several days after two sick cruise ships with coronary disease were eventually allowed to leave in Florida.
Broward County Medical Examiner Craig Malak confirmed the death of Uweit Widarto, 50, from Indonesia.
Widarto’s test was positive for COVID-19, raising the death toll associated with the Zaandam ship to four.
The man died, six days after the Zaandam wharf and a sister ship at Fort Lauderdale after spending two weeks at sea, which were rejected by South American ports,
Spokesman for the Netherlands-America Line said.
He was taken to a hospital in Florida on the same day the ship was docked.
Four elderly passengers had already died before the cruise ships arrived, and the medical examiner said earlier this week that three of these men had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
The death of the fourth man is due to a viral infection.
Malak said his test results were negative for the new virus, but he died for 12 days before being tested
About 1,200 passengers got off the Zaandam ship and its sister Rotterdam, which was sent for first refurbishment with supplies and crew members who became ill.
Cruise, federal and Florida officials negotiated for several days before disembarking.
The cruise line says that 29 passengers on board because of their mild illness were to finally travel to their country on chartered flights, a week after their arrival in Florida.
Zaandam left from Buenos Aires, Argentina one day before the State Department advised to avoid traveling on a cruise and a week before most cruise lines stopped their flights
Meanwhile about 12 international guests will remain quarantined aboard Coral Princess which docked last weekend in Miami with cases of covid-19, according to a statement by Princess Cruzes.
The company said that many of the former Princess passengers left South Florida on five charter flights.
It was one domestic flight while the others were heading to South America and Europe.
Despite ongoing efforts through diplomatic channels, the company said that current travel restrictions by countries of origin prevent travel to home for 13 international guests, and local authorities will not allow the use of local hotels. Guests will stay with Coral Princess’ crew for 14 days.
The port of Miami was scheduled to leave Thursday evening.
Two riders died before the Coral Princess moored in Miami and a third later died in hospital. It is not clear whether the deaths were caused by COVID-19.
The ship originally left Chile and Passengers were supposed to disembark in Argentina
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the extension of the non-sailing order to all cruise ships. Officials did not say when they expected the matter to end.
We are working with the cruise line industry to address the health and safety of crew members at sea as well as the communities surrounding the entry points of American cruise ships
Robert Redfield director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
The measures we take today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide industry-critical public health guidelines to reduce the effects of COVID-19 on its workforce for the remainder of the epidemic.
