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[–]Nemacolin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Seems a lot of stories like this just now.

After testing all personnel on board, Uruguayan medical authorities have determined that 60 percent of the people aboard the cruise ship Greg Mortimer have COVID-19, according to operator Aurora Expeditions.

Six people have already been evacuated to shore and are in stable condition. An initial round of testing administered to all of those remaining aboard showed that 81 out of 217 had COVID-19. A final batch of test results raised the number of positives to 128, or about six people out of every ten. There are no cases of fever on board, and all of the positive cases are asymptomatic, according to Aurora Expeditions.

All of the ship's Australian and New Zealand passengers will likely fly home on a chartered aircraft later this week, Aurora said in a statement - including those who are COVID-19 positive. Positive and negative passengers would be seated in separate compartments aboard the plane. The company has asked the Australian government to accept these passengers for a 14-day quarantine period on Australian soil, and Australia's Border Force has nominated a facility in Melbourne for the purpose.

However, that repatriation flight would come at great cost. The aircraft is a chartered Airbus A340 that has been specially modified to serve as a medical plane. The estimated airfare per passenger would be about $9,200. Given this outsize expense, Aurora has asked the Australian government for assistance with costs, and it is working to avoid passing on the full amount to guests.