TOURISM and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said six passengers testing positive for COVID-19 on a Royal Caribbean International cruise which left The Bahamas last week is not a cause for alarm noting the passengers did not interact with locals.
Four vaccinated adults and two unvaccinated minors tested positive for the virus during an end-of-trip screening Thursday on RCI’s Adventure of the Seas.
Of the adult passengers, three were asymptomatic and one had mild symptoms.
Yesterday, Mr D’Aguilar described what happened as the new normal for the cruise industry and the world, adding the proper protocols kicked in.
“The press tends to latch on to every story of positive cruises on a cruise ship but we obviously in our discussions with the cruise lines devised protocols to deal with such circumstances as this,” he said. “This is obviously going to happen from time to time and there were going to be positive cases and the question is, are the protocols in place sufficiently to address the problems? We feel that they are.
“When persons are identified on the cruise ships as positive through testing protocols, they are quarantined and when they get to the port, they are airlifted immediately using a private aircraft. They are put into transportation from the ship and disembarked from the ship. It works very smoothly. We believe there is zero risk to citizens and residents of The Bahamas. It is no cause for alarm.
“Cruise ships have testing protocols in place. Persons are tested on ships according to their protocols. Obviously if you are in the cruise business you are well aware that these situations will arise, and we’ve had a lot of time to think about how you are going to deal with them. This is a routine occurrence. It is not something that when it happens you have to jump up and say ‘Oh Jesus we’re at the end of the world’. We will probably be dealing with this for the next two to three years. This is going to be with us until we lick this virus and lord knows how long that will be.”
In June, two teens tested positive for COVID-19 on board an RCI cruise that ported in Grand Bahama. All crew and passengers 16 and older are required to be vaccinated for RCI cruises.
Comments
carltonr61 3 years, 4 months ago
The science and data from CDC rubishes Cod vaccination and that is the new normal. Vaccinated persons are shedding particles. Unvaccinated persons and healthy do not carry Covid particles. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated could get Covid, but your comorbidities or lack thereof determines your health outcome. Dozens of vaccinated persons got the shot then bragged that they were cured, they are now shocked that they could get very sick and worst, be spreaders. Politics and medicine make bad bedfellows.
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 4 months ago
"Dozens of vaccinated persons got the shot then bragged that they were cured, they are now shocked that they could get very sick and worst, be spreaders. Politics and medicine make bad bedfellows."
worse they thought it made them better than everyone else. And as history has shown when these class systems develop it always leads to abuse. Was eye opening to see normally rationale people willing to imprison and take away jobs and food from their neighbours
ohdrap4 3 years, 4 months ago
My sister had covid and recovered. She and the rest of the household contracted it from her nightclub-going son. But she suffered the most. Them she was vaccinated.
Now she has hissy fits and accuses the unvaccinated of exposing her to covid again and only vaccinated people can enter her home.
I have not seen her in months and her activity in social media is disgusting.
I'll live. I'll live.
mandela 3 years, 4 months ago
So out of the hundreds of thousands of tourists travelling through LPIA without having taken the PCR test since April and have brought potentially in and spread the virus. When it comes to visitors coming in and spreading the virus around government officials says not to be alarmed, why? because they would just blame the spread on the Bahamians
TalRussell 3 years, 4 months ago
Be honest, okay, if a department under RedRegime'sAuthority RRA should sprung into swift action if the national security we's Commonwealth of 1200 Out Islands, Cays, Realms, and Rocks come under threat vessel that offloaded wood waste containing an invasive beetle species, shouldn't it be with same swiftness if another department of RRA aka department of tourism, pushes policies that are threatening the health security brung by those who are permitted to freely crossover, enter we borders, yes?
tribanon 3 years, 4 months ago
Minnis and D'Aguilar are corrupt and incompetent buffoons of the highest order. They both lend new meaning to the saying: "What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
bahamianson 3 years, 4 months ago
Herd immunity, people do not want to take the vaccine , so let the virus do its thing. It is what it is.
rosiepi 3 years, 4 months ago
These passengers did land in the Bahamas and did interact with 'locals'. In Nassau, Coco Cay and Freeport.
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