Travellers stuck on Goa-bound cruise ship after staff test positive for Covid-19

Almost 2000 passengers aboard the Cordelia cruise ship have been stranded on board the ship after one of the cruise staff tested positive for Covid-19. The staff member has been placed in isolation and all passengers are being tested by health authorities in Goa Livehindustan reported.

The ship is currently near the port of Mormugao in Southern Goa, and was on its way to Goa from Mumbai, the report said. Mumbai Port Trust officials did not allow the shop to dock directly at the port. Authorities have asked all the passengers to remain on the cruise ship until their test results are out. Operators of this cruise ship have been asked to conduct Covid-19 tests on all the passengers through the Vasco-based Salgaonkar Medical Research Centre (SMRC) Hospital.

The staff member tested positive after a routine rapid antigen test, Livehindustan reported.

Goa has experienced a severe spike in Covid-19 infections following New Year festivities in the state. The positivity rate in Goa touched 10% on Sunday, as officials said the influx of tourists was the probable cause. 388 cases were detected on Sunday from 3,604 tests, a positivity rate (cases per 100 test) of 10.7%.

Epidemiologist Dr. Utkarsh Betodkar was quoted by the Times of India as predicting that Goa would have up to 5000-10,000 cases by mid-January, which means the state is already going through the third wave of the pandemic. This would get worse as hospitalisations amongst those with comprbiditiws rose he said, stressing the need to take precautions.

"The third wave has definitely begun. We've already seen a big rise over the last 6 days. The doubling rate is higher than that of the last wave. Until early last week, 60 new infections was a big number for us. Since then, there has been a 500% rise in daily infections with more than 300 cases being reported each day," he said.