Nomi Health employees check a long line of people for COVID-19 testing on Tuesday in North Miami, Fla.
Marta Lavandier / AP
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Marta Lavandier / AP
Nomi Health employees check a long line of people for COVID-19 testing on Tuesday in North Miami, Fla.
Marta Lavandier / AP
MIAMI – An outbreak of COVID-19 has struck aboard a South Florida-based cruise ship for the third time this week, as the number of coronavirus infections in Florida hit its highest level since the start of the pandemic.
Carnival said an undisclosed number of passengers and crew on board its Carnival Freedom cruise ship were infected with the virus, resulting in the vessel being denied entry to Bonaire and Aruba.
The ship had 2,497 passengers and 1,112 crew members on board and was scheduled to return to Miami on Sunday after an eight-day cruise. According to Carnival, passengers are required to be vaccinated and they were screened before disembarking last Saturday.
“Carnival Freedom is following all protocols and has a small number on board isolated due to a positive COVID test,” the statement said. “Our protocols anticipate this possibility, and we implement them as necessary to protect the health and safety of guests and crew.”
Ashley Peterson, a passenger on the train, tweeted a letter dated 22 December from the ship’s captain apologizing for not being able to stop at Aruba and Bonaire. The letter said passengers would receive $100 per room in the in-flight credit, as well as refunds for planned excursions.
This is the third outbreak this week affecting cruise ships operated by Carnival and Royal Caribbean departing from Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Meanwhile, Florida had 31,758 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, breaking the record for the most cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic in the US in March 2020, according to data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new record was driven by the spread of the new omicron variant through the Sunshine State.
The highest number of cases in a previous day was in August of last year, during the peak of the wave of delta variation in Florida, when 27,802 cases were reported.
