Singapore says cruise ship returns to Reuters after suspected COVID-19 case

SINGAPORE (Reuters)-The Singapore Tourism Board said on Wednesday that a cruise ship operated by Genting Cruise Line had returned to Singapore after a 40-year-old passenger was suspected of being infected with COVID-19.

The Tourism Bureau said in a statement: “The passenger was identified as a close contact of the confirmed case on land and was immediately isolated as part of the health agreement on board.”

It said that the passenger’s polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on the plane was positive and had been sent to the hospital for further confirmation tests.

The Tourism Bureau stated that the three travel companions of the passenger had been identified and quarantined. They tested negative for COVID-19 and are undergoing further contact tracing.

According to the Tourism Administration, all leisure activities on the “Dream of the World” cruise ship have been stopped, and passengers are required to stay in the cabin until the test results come out and contact tracing is completed.

Genting did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to media reports, the ship left Singapore on Sunday for a four-day cruise.

The global cruise industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with some of the earliest large-scale outbreaks occurring on cruise ships.

Singapore, which has relatively few domestic COVID-19 cases, launched the “round trip” route of luxury liners in November. These liners did not call at the port and only lasted a few days.

This type of cruise ship became popular during the pandemic and was restricted to Singapore residents.