RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Costa Cruzeiros’ Costa Diadema ship is docked in Salvador with 56 people infected with Covid-19.
The Municipal Health Secretariat confirmed the information. Technicians from the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) are on board the ship. According to the agency, an epidemiological investigation is in progress.
FIA professor Estevão Seccatto is on the ship and was tested for Covid. The result was negative, but it took 7 hours to be delivered. “If I were infected, I could have transmitted the disease to many people during this time,” he said.
Every day, 10% of passengers are tested for the disease. The infected are isolated in separate cabins on the ship’s lower decks.
According to Seccatto, despite the confirmed infections, the safety protocols have not been followed. There are photos and videos of passengers without masks serving themselves at the buffet, at parties, and in the pool. There are also staff members inadequately wearing masks, with their noses uncovered.
The gym and spa have been closed. As a result, the pool and other spaces were crowded, Seccatto says. “We are completely uninformed and don’t know where the ship will go,” he said. “We are waiting to see how Costa will be handling the passengers.”
In the United States, health authorities were monitoring 86 cruise ships for Covid-19 infection on Wednesday, December 29.