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Florida Moves Closer to Agreement on Sickened Cruise Ship Passengers Ships With Coronavirus-Stricken Passengers Dock in Florida
(about 4 hours later)
KEY WEST, Fla. — The vacation the passengers had imagined, a luxurious two-week voyage along the coast of South America to the southernmost tip of the hemisphere, turned into something else entirely.KEY WEST, Fla. — The vacation the passengers had imagined, a luxurious two-week voyage along the coast of South America to the southernmost tip of the hemisphere, turned into something else entirely.
Four passengers on board died, victims of the coronavirus. Many others began showing flulike symptoms, with nine passengers still in the ship hospital. The rest of the passengers from around the world who booked $3,500 passage on Holland America’s Zaandam are stuck in limbo, waiting to find out on Thursday whether the port in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will allow them to end their horrific, nearly four-week voyage. Four passengers on board died, victims of the coronavirus. Many others began showing flulike symptoms, with nine people winding up in the ship hospital. The rest of the passengers from around the world who booked $3,500 passage on Holland America’s Zaandam spent weeks in limbo, trying to find a port that would offer an end to their horrific, nearly four-week voyage.
“Being locked in our cubicle room is definitely having a toll on us,” said Robert Rorison, a passenger from Surrey, British Columbia, who is in a 15 foot by 18 foot cabin with no balcony. After days of debate, Florida finally relented and the ship and a second vessel accompanying it, the Rotterdam, pulled into the dock in Fort Lauderdale late Thursday afternoon.
But with cruise ships widely blamed for spreading an illness the likes of which have not been experienced in a century, Florida officials weighed the potential consequences. As more ships come to port with sick passengers and crew who require hospitalization, local authorities were concerned that accommodating hundreds of patients from outside their cities could strain resources just when hospitals are already experiencing crushing volumes of emergency room patients. “We are able to help the people on board in a humanitarian way and ensure they are able to go home with their families,” Dale Holness, the Broward County mayor, said in announcing the deal. “We are grateful that we were able to find a solution that benefits everyone.”
The ship arrived three miles off the Florida shore early Thursday, still in international waters. Passengers were told to pack and given a health questionnaire. With cruise ships widely blamed for spreading an illness the likes of which have not been experienced in a century, Florida officials had worried about the potential consequences. As more ships have come to port with sick passengers and crew members who require hospitalization, local authorities were concerned that accommodating people from outside their cities could strain resources just when hospitals are already experiencing crushing volumes of emergency room patients.
The debate underscores the challenges federal officials and the cruise industry have faced in repatriating thousands of people stranded at sea. “We view this as a big, big problem and we do not want to see people dumped in southern Florida right now,” Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida told Fox News. A long day of final negotiations began when the ships arrived three miles off the Florida shore early Thursday, still in international waters.
President Trump has suggested that compassion is in order. A team of local, federal, public health and law enforcement authorities determined that the company’s preliminary plan for evacuating the ship was not adequate and initially denied permission for the ship to enter U.S. territory, but allowed the ships to proceed once an agreement for safely evacuating the passengers was approved.
The debate underscored the challenges that federal officials and the cruise industry have faced in repatriating thousands of people stranded at sea. “We view this as a big, big problem and we do not want to see people dumped in southern Florida right now,” Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News on Monday.
President Trump suggested that compassion was in order.
“They’re dying, so we have to do something, and the governor knows that, too,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday. “We have to help the people. They are in big trouble.”“They’re dying, so we have to do something, and the governor knows that, too,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday. “We have to help the people. They are in big trouble.”
Mr. Trump said Canada and the United Kingdom would be arranging flights to retrieve their citizens from the ship, and that others would be “sent home.” Some local authorities in Florida said it was unfair to ask them to provide the solution, instead of having the federal government step in.
But after hours of debate this week, the sheriff, port officials, the Coast Guard and the Broward County commission set to determine whether the ship should be allowed to dock still had not reached a decision. Mr. DeSantis said on Wednesday that Florida residents would “clearly” be accepted, and that he hoped a solution for the others was near. “Why is this being hurled on the people with the least amount of ability to solve this?” said Michael Udine, a county commissioner.
“We have people who are very sick on board, and they need to be in a hospital, but the governor does not want the ship to dock,” said Andrea Anderson, 62, a passenger from Maineville, Ohio. “I want to ask him: How many people have to die on this ship waiting for medical care before he does the right thing and allows us to dock?” Gregory Tony, the Broward County sheriff, expressed sympathy for the passengers but said he had an obligation to protect residents of his county.
Michael Udine, a Broward County commissioner, announced that port authorities had given conditional approval to a plan the cruise line submitted, and the county must now authorize it. The county attorney said no deal has been signed, Kimberly Maroe, a spokeswoman for the commission, said Thursday. “We are the United States of America. We have never turned away people in need or those that are sick,” he said. “But these are very, very critical circumstances.”
The port schedule shows the ship docking at 1 p.m. The explosive spread of the coronavirus has plagued a series of cruise ships that over the past several weeks have been seeking safe harbor as their passengers continue to sicken on board.
Mrs. Anderson is among the more than 1,200 people who booked trips on the Zaandam, which left Buenos Aires on March 7. Things quickly went wrong. The World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic and Holland America suspended operations; the company expected to disembark its passengers in Chile, but when Chile closed its borders, the ship continued northward. More countries denied it entry. The problem first showed up aboard Carnival’s Diamond Princess in Japan, where more than 700 got sick. The Grand Princess had to send its passengers to multiple quarantines around the United States. Carnival evacuated several hundred supposedly healthy Americans and Canadians who were on the Costa Luminosa; they then flew commercial flights home and many promptly got sick. At least one person died.
The Zaandam left Buenos Aires on March 7 with more than 1,200 passengers on board. Things quickly went wrong. The World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic and Holland America suspended operations; the company expected to disembark its passengers in Chile, but when Chile closed its borders, the ship continued northward. More countries denied it entry.
Then passengers and crew started getting sick.Then passengers and crew started getting sick.
Mrs. Anderson has been in her cabin for 10 days now, sharing a single Wi-Fi account with her husband and killing time by making paper airplanes. To limit visits from the ailing crew, passengers have to change their own linens and clean the room themselves. They are not allowed ice. The vessel headed for Florida, but stalled for a time as Panama initially denied passage through the Panama Canal.
Holland America announced on Friday that four people had died on board, one each from the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. Two of the dead tested positive for the coronavirus, the ship’s owner said.
Passengers were largely confined to their cabins, and the days wore on.
“How many people have to die on this ship waiting for medical care before he does the right thing and allows us to dock?” Andrea Anderson, 62, a passenger from Maineville, Ohio, said of the Florida governor.
She was in her cabin for 10 days, sharing a single Wi-Fi account with her husband and killing time by making paper airplanes. To limit visits from the ailing crew, passengers had to change their own linens and clean the room themselves. They were not allowed ice.
“Being locked in our cubicle room is definitely having a toll on us,” said Robert Rorison, a passenger from Surrey, British Columbia, before the ship docked. He spent much of the cruise in a 15 foot by 18 foot cabin with no balcony.
Although the illness affected the crew in larger numbers, the employees largely bounced back. Some passengers, most of whom are over the age of 65, did not.Although the illness affected the crew in larger numbers, the employees largely bounced back. Some passengers, most of whom are over the age of 65, did not.
On Friday, Holland America announced that four people had died on board, one each from the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. Two of the dead tested positive for the coronavirus, said Carnival Corporation, which owns the ship. Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America, wrote an open letter accusing nations of turning their backs on the ship, leaving some 2,500 people stranded.
The ship headed for Florida, but stalled for a time as Panama initially denied passage through the Panama Canal.
The president of Holland America, Orlando Ashford, wrote an open letter accusing nations of turning their backs on the ship, leaving some 2,500 people stranded.
“What happens when our supplies run out?” he wrote. “What happened to compassion and help thy neighbor?”“What happens when our supplies run out?” he wrote. “What happened to compassion and help thy neighbor?”
More than half the passengers were transferred over the weekend to another vessel, the Rotterdam. The ships have been traveling together to Port Everglades, the port in Broward County, Fla., where they were scheduled to arrive Thursday morning and remain outside U.S. waters while awaiting clearance to enter. The agreement finally negotiated for evacuating the passengers included protections that exceeded safety procedures laid out by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health, the administration of Port Everglades, the port in Broward County, said in a statement.
William R. Burke, the chief maritime officer of Carnival Corp., Holland America’s parent company, said the company brought on a few hundred fast-processing coronavirus tests that have been known to produce false negatives. Even so, nine of the 11 people the company tested came out positive, he said. “Healthy passengers will return to their homes on Friday and Saturday on chartered flights to domestic and international destinations,” the statement said.
The company initially said that nearly 200 people were sick with flulike symptoms, but later said that figure was “cumulative.” Just 14 people are ill, Mr. Burke said on Tuesday. Ellen Kennedy, a spokeswoman for Port Everglades, said local authorities hashed out even the smallest of details with the cruise line.
“I think there’s a possibility they can get better. There are some that could get worse,” Mr. Burke told the Broward County commission. “Disinfecting the luggage — how was that going to be done?” she said. “Who was going to do it? Who are the drivers that are picking people up? What ambulance service are you going to use?”
There are six doctors and nine nurses aboard the two vessels, Mr. Burke said. “We have the right equipment to try to nurse these people back to health. It is our intent to do just that, rather than rely on the local community, unless we get beyond our own capability.” Holland American is a brand of Carnival, which had initially hoped to send more than 300 passengers on commercial flights. The agreement, however, calls for all of them to fly home on charters paid by the airline. All passengers were to receive health screenings.
Two passengers need to be evacuated immediately, he said, but dozens of people had recovered. The document shows 14 people are going straight to hospitals, and the rest are going to have their temperature taken to determine whether they are well enough to leave the ship.
A day later, the company said in a statement that 45 people were not well enough to travel and would remain on board, and “less than 10” required hospitalization. Mr. Ashford thanked the president, the Florida governor and local authorities, who allowed the ships to enter. “These travelers could have been any one of us or our families, unexpectedly caught in the middle of this unprecedented closure of global borders that happened in a matter of days and without warning,” he said in a statement.
County commissioners questioned the shifting numbers and pressed Mr. Burke, a former Navy vice admiral, on how he planned to evacuate the passengers without endangering local residents. The disembarkation process should be complete by Friday, the company said.
“I have a big trust issue,” said Mark D. Bogen, a county commissioner. William R. Burke, the chief maritime officer of Carnival, said the company brought on a few hundred fast-processing coronavirus tests that have been known to produce false negatives. Even so, nine of the 11 people the company tested came out positive, he said.
The coronavirus crisis exploded aboard Carnival’s Diamond Princess in Japan, where more than 700 got sick. The Grand Princess had to send its passengers to multiple quarantines around the United States. Carnival evacuated several hundred supposedly healthy Americans and Canadians who were on the Costa Luminosa; they then flew commercial flights home and many promptly got sick. At least one person died. The company initially said that nearly 200 people were sick with flulike symptoms, but later said that figure was “cumulative.” Just 14 people were ill, Mr. Burke said on Tuesday.
Carnival has agreed to transfer any passengers evacuated from the Zaandam and Rotterdam directly to the airport tarmac on sanitized buses. But the authorities rejected an initial plan Carnival submitted that called for some 52 Zaandam passengers to be driven to their homes in Florida and another 200 to fly commercial flights throughout the United States. Under that plan, the rest would be flown to the West Coast and Europe by charter. More than 100 Australians would fly by private charter to the West Coast, and take commercial flights from there, Mr. Burke said. More than half the passengers, those who had no symptoms, were transferred over the weekend from the Zaandam to the Rotterdam. The ships had been traveling together since.
A team of local, federal, public health, port and law enforcement authorities advising the commissioners said the company’s plan was not sufficient and initially denied permission for the ship to enter U.S. waters. Once they arrived off the coast of Florida, a team of local, federal, public health, port and law enforcement authorities determined the company’s initial plan for evacuating the ship was not adequate and denied permission for the ship to enter U.S. waters.
“We are the United States of America. We have never turned away people in need or those that are sick,” said Gregory Tony, the Broward County sheriff. “But these are very, very critical circumstances.” The ships were traveling with six doctors and nine nurses aboard the two vessels, Mr. Burke said. “We have the right equipment to try to nurse these people back to health. It is our intent to do just that, rather than rely on the local community, unless we get beyond our own capability.”
Mr. Udine asked why the matter was not being handled by the federal government. “Why is this being hurled on the people with the least amount of ability to solve this?” he said. Before the ships docked, company officials had said that dozens of people had recovered, but 45 people were not well enough to travel and would remain on board.
The Coast Guard issued a notice this week that all foreign-flagged cruise ships carrying more than 50 people must be prepared to care for any sick passengers and crew members at sea for an “indefinite period of time” or to seek medical assistance from other countries during the coronavirus pandemic.The Coast Guard issued a notice this week that all foreign-flagged cruise ships carrying more than 50 people must be prepared to care for any sick passengers and crew members at sea for an “indefinite period of time” or to seek medical assistance from other countries during the coronavirus pandemic.
Senator Rick Scott of Florida said that all the passengers should be held in quarantine and tested. But federal health officials stressed that they would no longer be holding cruise ship passengers in quarantine. In a statement Thursday, Mr. Udine, the county commissioner, said he tried but failed to have the passengers quarantined on a Navy base or one of the company’s private islands, or at a port outside Florida’s coronavirus “hot zone.”
“The cruise company wanted to just drop people off and let them fly home,” he said.
Senator Rick Scott of Florida also said that all the passengers should be held in quarantine and tested. But federal health officials stressed that they would no longer be holding cruise ship passengers in quarantine.
“That was earlier in the pandemic,” Dr. Cindy Friedman, a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s cruise ship task force, told Broward County commissioners earlier this week. What asymptomatic passengers need, she said, is a mask and to go straight home.“That was earlier in the pandemic,” Dr. Cindy Friedman, a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s cruise ship task force, told Broward County commissioners earlier this week. What asymptomatic passengers need, she said, is a mask and to go straight home.
The debate infuriated passengers on board. The deal finally negotiated offered legal assurances, safeguards and hospital care at the company’s expense, Mr. Udine said.
“Jesus Christ, people, this is not the Black Death,” Charles J. Borg, an 80-year-old retired Dow Chemical executive from San Francisco, said in a text message. “What kind of fragile people have we become that we can’t rise up to the challenge?” Local officials had few choices, said Nan H. Rich, a Broward County commissioner. “Are we going to let the ship float out to sea and let the people die?”
Local officials have few choices, said Nan H. Rich, a Broward County commissioner. “Are we going to let the ship float out to sea and let the people die?”