Tourism Board says ‘situation contained’ aboard Carnival Vista

Published by BBNTEAM at August 11, 2021

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Posted: Wednesday, August 11, 2021. 11:53 am CST.

By Aaron Humes: The Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, supported by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, has allowed passengers aboard the cruise ship Carnival Vista to enter Belize and participate in scheduled activities subject to having a negative COVID-19 test or subject to random testing.

The ship arrived this morning from Roatan, Honduras, with 27 positive cases of COVID-19: all but one being a crew member.

After a meeting with Carnival staff, it was determined that all positive cases were isolated, contact tracing had found no additional cases, and that because they are isolated the infected crew and passengers pose no threat to fellow guests, crew, or frontline workers in Belize.

Additionally, a majority of crew and workers are vaccinated, including those who tested positive, and they are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The ship requires masks wearing indoors, closed social areas, and require all guests to be rapid tested negative to continue the cruise.

The Ministry of Health’s own inspection of ship protocol proved satisfactory, and those receiving guests are advised to remain vigilant of themselves.

The Ministry says ships generally have maintained an excellent safety record and have regained lost reputation. In any event, while COVID cases are unavoidable, no disembarking would have been allowed I’d the total number of positive cases was more than 2 percent of the total number of passengers, in this case, 2,895.

The ship departs later today for Cozumel, Mexico.

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