Mexican Authorities Allow MS Zuiderdam Cruise Ship To Dock And Disembark Passengers Despite COVID-19 Outbreak

MS Zuiderdam cruise ship. (Wikimedia Commons/Quahadi Añtó)

JAKARTA - Mexican authorities on Tuesday allowed cruise ships to dock and disembark passengers, despite the COVID-19 outbreak on ships, as they pledged to keep the country open to cruise ships, as long as sanitary precautions are followed.

The cruise ship MS Zuiderdam, with about 2.000 passengers and crew, docked at the Port of Guaymas in northern Mexico, in the state of Sonora, state and federal authorities said.

In a statement, the Mexican government said it would accept cruise ships requesting permission to dock, as long as international World Health Organization (WHO) regulations are followed.

People infected with COVID-19 on cruise ships who require medical attention will receive it, and milder or asymptomatic cases will be isolated from others on board, he added.

Meanwhile, Holland America Line, which operates MS Zuiderdam, said in a statement a small number of fully vaccinated crew and passengers on Zuiderdam had tested positive for COVID-19.

All showed mild or no symptoms and were in isolation. Meanwhile, their close contacts have been quarantined, the company said.

The MS Zuiderdam is known to be on a 10-day cruise and will return to San Diego as scheduled on January 2, the statement said.

Separately, Sonoran Health Minister Jose Luis Alomia said at a press conference, 30 people had tested positive for COVID-19 while MS Zuiderdam, consisting of 28 crew and two passengers, was already undergoing isolation.

About 400 people had disembarked from the ship in the morning after going through sanitary filters installed to identify suspected cases of infection, Alomia said.

The minister said there were about 1,200 passengers and nearly 800 crew onboard the Zuiderdam.

To note, the Mexican government, whose economy relies heavily on overseas visitors for foreign exchange earnings, has been determined to keep the country open during the pandemic, imposing relatively few restrictions on tourism.