Advertisement

Coronavirus: Antarctic cruise passengers to be evacuated after more than half test positive for COVID-19

Aerial view of Australian cruise ship Greg Mortimer off the port of Montevideo on April 7, 2020. - Australian and New Zealand passengers on board a cruise ship off the South American coast will be the first flown home in a series of rescue flights as coronavirus on the ship rose sharply Tuesday, according to the Greg Mortimer's operator. Confirmed COVID-19 cases on the ship -  currently anchored in the Rio de la Plata near Uruguay - jumped from 81 to 128 on Tuesday with a medical flight for the Australians onboard expected to begin Thursday. (Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA / AFP) (Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images)
Aerial view of Australian cruise ship the Greg Mortimer off the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. (Getty)

Passengers on board an Antarctic cruise ship will be evacuated after more than half of them tested positive for coronavirus.

Uruguay said on Tuesday it has agreed to repatriate 112 Australians and New Zealanders from the vessel, which has been stranded in the La Plata River near capital Montevideo since 27 March, with most of the 219 passengers infected by COVID-19.

The British passengers on board will likely be evacuated afterwards, according to Aurora Expeditions, which owns the liner, named the Greg Mortimer.

A spokesman for Uruguay’s Foreign Ministry said it reached an agreement with Australia for a charter flight to arrive on Thursday to take the 96 Australian passengers and 16 New Zealanders to Melbourne.

Read more: Three things the world needs to do to beat the coronavirus pandemic

In this picture released by Adhoc news agency medical workers transfer a sick passenger  with COVID-19 from the Greg Mortimer cruise liner to an ambulance at Montevideo's port on April 8, 2020. - An Australian couple with severe symptoms of covid-19 were evacuated this Wednesday from the cruise ship Greg Mortimer, anchored for almost two weeks in front of Montevideo, and transferred to a hospital, the Uruguayan Navy reported. (Photo by Daniel RODRIGUEZ / adhoc / AFP) / Uruguay OUT / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/ ADHOC / Daniel RODRIGUEZ " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by DANIEL RODRIGUEZ/adhoc/AFP via Getty Images)
Medical workers transfer a sick passenger with COVID-19 from the Greg Mortimer cruise liner. (Getty)

The passengers will first be moved by boat for the 20 miles (32km) to Montevideo and from there on buses to the airport, under strict health security measures, the spokesman said.

Aurora Expeditions reported that of the 217 tests carried out on the ship’s passengers and crew, 128 were positive and 89 were negative.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

In addition to Australians and New Zealanders, there are people from the US, the UK, Jamaica and several more countries aboard, according to official data.

Uruguay is talking with the governments of those countries about how and when their citizens will return home, the spokesman said.

Aurora said in a statement: “We have been working on charters and flights for all on board with the aim of disembarking our passengers as soon as possible.’

“While our preferred plan had been to disembark all passengers simultaneously, the nature of the situation and the difficultly in securing flights has meant it is likely that the Australian and New Zealand passengers will leave the vessel before our European (UK included) and North American passengers.”

The COVID-19 outbreak has infected 1.4 million people worldwide, with 83,000 deaths and 307,000 recoveries so far, according to John Hopkins University.

Read more: War hero celebrates 107th birthday without family due to coronavirus lockdown

Coronavirus: what happened today?

Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter