WILLEMSTAD - The passengers of the cruise ship Odessey of the Sea were not allowed to disembark on Curaçao. The percentage of infected people on board was too high. For this reason, the Health Department did not allow the ship to dock.

The Odessey of the Seas of cruise company Royal Caribbean International arrived in Curaçao this morning. When it turned out that more than one percent of the crew members were infected with the corona virus, epidemiologist Dr. Gerstenbluth banned the passengers from disembarking.

“The day before yesterday, 18 crew members were positive, yesterday 36 and this morning there were 51. In addition, several crew members have not been quarantined, so there is a good chance that passengers have also been infected,” said Gerstenbluth.

According to the epidemiologist, there is a protocol that stipulates that one percent of the number of people on the ship may be infected with the corona virus. “With these numbers of infections, that percentage has been exceeded and we are therefore not eager to receive these people on the island, especially not with the current figures on the island,” says Gerstenbluth.

The ship has Aruba scheduled for tomorrow. It is not yet clear whether the ship will be admitted. According to Mark Figaroa, managing director of Aruba Ports Authority, that decision has already been made, but this must first be communicated with the cruise company.