Cruise ship passengers infected with Covid 19 were confined to their cabins and did not step ashore in the Bay of Islands.

The Majestic Princess was about halfway through a 12-day voyage of New Zealand
when an outbreak of cases was noticed and at least 20 per cent of its passengers tested positive when the ship docked in Sydney last weekend.

Its public relations director for Asia and Pacific Meg Koffel said when the ship visited the Bay of Islands last week, every Covid positive guest was isolated in their cabin and restricted from going ashore.

She declined to say how many passengers tested positive, saying the company did not issue case numbers independently of the local health authorities.

“All current guests are following our strict and robust health and safety guidelines, and this means, those who are in isolation must not leave their rooms.

“All close contacts needed to provide a negative test in order to leave the ship that day.

”These measures that we have put in place are designed to protect our guests, crew and the communities we visit,” she said.

Koffel said a comprehensive overview of its other health and safety measures, above and beyond current guidelines, included a requirement that 95 per cent of guests over the age of 12 were vaccinated while the other 5 per cent were accommodated due to medical exemptions.

All passengers and crew needed to return a negative Covid test before they were permitted to board, all passengers were to complete health screening declarations before boarding and regular and proactive testing of all crew members was carried out, she said.

Koffel said daily and thorough cleaning of the ship was carried out, free Rapid Antigen Tests were available to all guests and a seven-day isolation period in New Zealand for positive cases included 24/7 medical support.

Asked why nearly 20 per cent of passengers tested positive for Covid despite the robust precautionary measures, Koffel said: “Since cruising resumed in May, we have
made more than 50 international and domestic voyages with a vast majority of more than 100,000 guests unimpacted by Covid.

“However, the emergence of Covid in the community has meant we have seen a rise in positive cases on the last three voyages,” Koffel said.

Te Whatu Ora Northland interim district director Tracey Schiebli said there was no requirement for passengers to be tested before disembarking, especially if they were symptom-free.

She said surveillance monitoring of passengers was undertaken by the master and doctors on board cruise vessels who would report to their shipping agent and Te Whatu Ora’s Public Health Service about the status of health on board the vessel.

“The master has the responsibility that all known Covid positive cases remain on board the vessel and in isolation, until they can provide a negative covid test result. Passengers are only required to test if they are symptomatic or a household contact of a case.”

There were 937 active Covid cases in Northland as at 1 pm yesterday, with four people admitted in hospital.