Two of deceased confirmed to have had Covid-19 on ship at centre of US docking row

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

A British national is among four people to have died on a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship embroiled in a bitter dispute over plans to dock in the US, according to a spokesman for the vessel’s owner.

In what is being described as an unfolding humanitarian crisis, so far two of the four people to have died on the cruise ship, the Zaandam, have been confirmed to have had Covid-19, with nine people onboard testing positive and 189 others reporting flu-like symptoms.

“One of the deceased passengers is from the UK,” a spokesman for the Holland America cruise line, which operates the Zaandam, said in an email.

“Due to US … laws, we cannot provide any additional medical and health details.”

The Zaandam, which is carrying more than 200 British nationals, and its sister ship the Rotterdam passed through the Panama canal on Monday after being denied entry to several ports.

Both ships are seeking to dock in Florida later this week, but local authorities are in dispute over whether to let passengers disembark, with the state’s hospitals already burdened with Covid-19 cases.

The state’s governor is reluctant to allow the more than 1,000 people onboard the Zaandam to disembark, but the US president, Donald Trump, appears set to overrule him.

Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference on Tuesday that Florida’s healthcare resources were already stretched too thin by the coronavirus outbreak to take on the Zaandam’s caseload.

The US Coast Guard has said if local authorities cannot agree on a docking plan, the matter will go to the federal government for a ruling. DeSantis said he had been in contact with the White House about ferrying medical supplies to the ships.

“Just to drop people off at the place where we’re having the highest number of cases right now just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” DeSantis told a news conference.

However, Trump said at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing that he would ask DeSantis to allow the ships to dock in Florida.

“They’re dying on the ship,” Trump said. “I’m going to do what’s right. Not only for us, but for humanity.”

Holland America said 73 guests and 116 crew members on the Zaandam had reported influenza-like illness symptoms, with nine people on the ship testing positive for Covid-19.

In an an opinion piece in the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper, the company’s president, Orlando Ashford, pleaded with officials and residents to let the passengers disembark.

“The Covid-19 situation is one of the most urgent tests of our common humanity,” he wrote. “To slam the door in the face of these people betrays our deepest human values.”

The Zaandam originally departed from Buenos Aires on 7 March – a day before the US state department advised people to avoid cruise travel and before any substantial restrictions were in place in Florida. The ship had been scheduled to stop in San Antonio, Chile, then complete another 20-day cruise to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 7 April. But since 15 March, the Zaandam has assumed pariah-like status, having been denied entry at a succession of ports.

Zaandam passengers said they were asked to keep their rooms dark and leave their curtains closed as they passed through the Panama canal.

Holland America said after being denied entry to a number of ports, the Zaandam was forced to rendezvous with the Rotterdam, which took on nearly 1,400 people who appeared healthy. This left 450 guests and 602 crew members on the Zaandam.

The company said the two ships would remain together for the rest of the journey, and guests on both ships would stay in their rooms until disembarkation.

Guy Jones, whose parents, Nick and Celia, are among 229 British nationals on the luxury cruise liner, said the cruise company had been keeping passengers informed of developments.

He said while his parents, who are from Bristol, had an attitude of “keep calm and carry on”, they were still concerned about what the next steps would be.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died onboard the Zaandam and are in touch with the cruise ship operator. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

“We are doing all we can to help British people onboard the Zaandam cruise ship. Our staff are in close contact with the cruise operator and the authorities in the region to ensure British people can get home safely.”