Italian ‘risk’ tourists see more than 2,000 stranded on cruise liner in Phuket

PHUKET: More than 2,000 passengers and crew on board the Costa Fortuna cruise liner that arrived in Patong Bay this morning (Mar 6) have been refused permission to come ashore. The ban follows officials confirming that 64 Italians on board left Italy in the past 14 days.

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By The Phuket News

Friday 6 March 2020, 02:24PM

No passengers or crew on the Costa Fortuna have been allowed to come ashore in Patong. Photo; Supplied

The move follows the Thai government yesterday instituting a 14-day quarantine on all people arriving from China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Iran and Italy. (See story here.)

The Costa Fortuna arrived in Patong this morning on its scheduled overnight stop with 1,631 passengers and 984 crew and ship staff on board.

Of the passengers and crew on board are three Chinese, two Singaporeans, 151 French nationals, 230 Germans and 282 Italians, Phuket Immigration Chief Col Narong Chanaphaikul confirmed to The Phuket News.

The decision to not allow any persons to disembark in Phuket follows confirmation that 64 of the Italians on the ship are suspected of carrying COVID-19, Col Narong said.

“While there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the ship, all people on board are a health risk and they must remain in quarantine for 14 days,” he said.

“They must stay on the ship, and the ship must remain about two nautical miles from shore,” Col Narong explained.

“Next we will have to discuss what is to be done with other cruise ships scheduled to come to Phuket. We need to talk with the Phuket Governor before we can make any decisions regarding those,” he said.