Almost 60 percent of the 217 people on board an Antarctica cruise ship moored off Uruguay have tested positive for the new coronavirus, as authorities work to arrange the return home of crew and passengers, DPA reported.
Six people on the vessel Greg Mortimer have been brought to hospitals in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, and are in stable condition, the ship’s Australian operator, Aurora Expeditions, said on Wednesday. Of the 217 people tested on the vessel, 128 were positive. “There are currently no fevers on board and all are asymptomatic,” a spokesperson for Aurora said.
Most of those on the Antarctica expedition ship were from Australia and New Zealand. It has not been allowed to berth in Uruguay. Aurora said it has chartered a plane equipped with medical equipment to fly back passengers from Australia and New Zealand, with the help of the Australian foreign ministry, on Thursday or Friday.
