Noro outbreak on Princess Cruises ship leaves dozens of passengers and crew sick and forced into isolation
A contagious virus outbreak has left dozens of passengers and crew ill and in isolation during their nearly three-week-long voyage.
After the Coral Princess cruise ship set sail from California on February 21, 69 of the over 1,000 passengers and 13 of the 895 crew members were struck down by the vomiting and diarrhea bug norovirus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is the second outbreak of the virus on the cruise liner this year after the Coral Princess reported cases back in January.
The New York Post reported that the ill vacationers and workers were isolated and in order to contain the outbreak public areas were cleaned and disinfected thoroughly.
Stool samples from ill passengers were also collected for further testing.
The ship arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday after completing stops in Mexico, Costa Rica and Aruba.
‘At the earliest signs of illness, we promptly enacted enhanced sanitization protocols, including comprehensive disinfection, isolating affected guests, and offering health guidance to everyone on board,’ the cruise line said in a statement.
‘Upon arrival in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, March 9, our crew conducted additional disinfection measures prior to the next sailing,’ Princess Cruises said in their statement.
The Coral Princess cruise liner in Miami in April 2020. After the cruise ship set sail from California on February 21, 69 of the over 1,000 passengers and 13 of the 895 crew members were struck down by the vomiting and diarrhea bug norovirus
Ill vacationers and staff on the cruise liner were isolated and communal areas were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected
In 2022, the Coral Princess suffered from an outbreak of Covid-19 which forced 100 passengers and crew into isolation for five days of their vacation.
The ship was the first luxury liner to enter Western Australian (WA) waters in more than two years when it docked in Broome in October 2022.
But around 100-infected passengers and crew are unable to leave and must stay in isolation for the next five days after the virus was discovered circulating on the ship.
The Coral Princess had departed Sydney for WA on October 11 2022 after the state government announced that it would allow large cruise liners to dock off the state’s coastline again.
