Mexico: No Coronavirus on MSC Meraviglia

MSC Cruises has announced that the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia has been given “a clean bill of health” by Mexican health officials following medical checks of two people on board with common seasonal flu after the vessel arrived in Cozumel, Mexico.

Health experts boarded the ship to check the medical condition of one crew member and one young female guest. In addition to the checks that are customarily run to give a ship a clean bill of health, out of an excess of precaution they conducted overnight additional tests on both of them.

The results were tested at a Mexican Ministry of Public Health laboratory in the city of Chetumal and determined that neither had the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

MSC Meraviglia had previously been unable to make scheduled calls to both Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and George Town, Grand Cayman. Passengers couldn't disembark at either island because local authorities had decided to ignore the established health protocols that saw the ship receive a clean bill of health in Mexico, said the cruise line in a statement.

The news coincides with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming that Mexico and San Marino have both had their first coronavirus cases and as the U.S. has its first coronavirus death. More than 60 people are now infected in the U.S. The virus has now spread to 46 countries with over 85,000 cases confirmed globally and around 3,000 deaths.