The Braemar cruise ship is docked at the port in Mariel, Cuba, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Weeks after the ship was blocked from disembarking at several ports in the Caribbean due to fears of passengers with possible COVID-19 symptoms, Cuban authorities will assist hundreds of passengers stranded on the boat to disembark to be evacuated to their home countries. The vast majority of people recover from the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
HAVANA (AP) — A British cruise ship rejected by Caribbean port officials for weeks docked in Cuba on Wednesday to unload more than 1,000 people on board, including five with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
The Braemar arrived in the port of Mariel early in the morning. Passengers leaving the ship were being taken by medical workers in protective gear to Jose Marti International Airport, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east in the capital, Havana.
Most of the 682 passengers were expected to arrive in London Thursday morning on planes chartered by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. Passengers with the coronavirus or flu-like symptoms were being flown to a British military base on a separate plane.
Meanwhile, Cuba announced its first death from the coronavirus, a 61-year-old Italian tourist who was one of 10 confirmed cases on the island.
The Braemar has been sailing the Caribbean since late February and was turned away by the Dominican Republic, Barbados and the Bahamas. Cuba said it is allowing the passengers to transit as an act of humanitarian solidarity.
“Our country has the resources and means necessary to carry out a successful operation,” Health Ministry spokesman José Raúl de Armas told reporters on Wednesday.
nxmjm on March 18th, 2020 at 20:35 UTC »
I’m sat on the ship just now. I’m well but my wife has a cough so we are confined to our cabin (quite rightly). I understand why several smaller islands turned us away. In the Bahamas we were resupplied by a boat that was left at anchor by the crew who left it on another boat Our ship’s crew had to board and bring it alongside for unloading. I have great respect for the ships captain who has tried so hard to both find us a port and keep spirits up. I know the FCO have been working hard in our behalf. I can’t express how grateful I am to Cuba.
MiniGiantSpaceHams on March 18th, 2020 at 18:26 UTC »
This is great by Cuba, but I will defend those islands who refused them a little. A lot of those places have substantial populations of very poor people who live in tight, poor conditions, and they rely entirely on imports for almost everything, especially medical supplies. An outbreak on an island like that, with every country trying to source the same supplies and no where for any of their people to go, would be an extreme disaster. And one that no other country can really help with at the moment since we're all dealing with it.
Cuba also has this issue of lots of poor people, but for all the (in many cases deserved) shit they get, they are known to have great healthcare, so hopefully they are equipped to handle this. Props to them in any case.
Isaacasdreams on March 18th, 2020 at 18:02 UTC »
At this rate I should be able to afford a cruise ship, they will all be on sale soon enough.