Coronavirus: after deaths on cruise ship MS Zaandam, guests clamour to leave
- Four older passengers have died on the liner and more than 130 others aboard are suffering from flu-like symptoms
- The Zaandam, with 1,243 guests on board, is currently in Panamanian waters, after it was prevented from docking in several ports due to Covid-19 fears
Holland America Line said in a statement that the MS Zaandam, previously on a South American cruise, was trying to transit the Panama Canal and make its way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But Panama’s government has denied it access to the canal for sanitary reasons, leaving passengers and crew wondering when they will get home.
Chris Joiner, 59, a retiree from Ottawa, Ontario, said the cruise had turned into a “nightmare.”
He was worried that he and his wife, Anna, also 59, would be forced to stay aboard for an undetermined time because she had a cough, after cruise operators said they would soon transfer healthy passengers to the Zaandam’s sister ship, the Rotterdam, which is now alongside the vessel in Panamanian waters.
“We’re isolated. We’re stuck on this ship. We can’t go anywhere because we’re not healthy, I guess,” said Joiner, who took a selfie in his cabin with a piece of paper on which he had written “HELP US” in a bid for attention from the media and the Canadian government.
A ship official told passengers on Friday morning via a public address system that one guest had died several days ago, followed by two deaths on Thursday and another overnight.
