The Governor of Florida has said ‘we can’t afford’ to have the Zaandam cruise ship carrying four dead passengers and nearly 200 with coronavirus symptoms ‘dumped’ in his state.
The Zaandam’s 450 guests and 602 crew members have not set foot on dry land for 15 days after setting sail from Buenos Aires on March 7 and were scheduled to arrive in Fort Lauderdale in early April before the pandemic gained its ferocious pace.
‘We cannot afford to have people who are not even Floridians dumped into South Florida using up those valuable resources,’ Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox on Monday. ‘We view this as a big, big problem, and we do not want to see people dumped in Southern Florida right now.’
It comes as the number of people infected in Florida reached more than 5,400, with 70 deaths, compared to a national total of more than 160,700 who have tested positive for covid-19 and 3,004 fatalities.
Passengers were asked to keep their rooms dark and leave their drapes closed when they passed through the Panama Canal on Sunday night (pictured) after days of wrangling with local authorities
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said: ‘We cannot afford to have people who are not even Floridians dumped into South Florida using up those valuable resources’
The Zaandam’s plans to dock as early as Wednesday in Florida are still up in the air.
Dozens on board the Holland America Line ship have reported flu-like symptoms and four people have died, with at least two of the deaths blamed on the coronavirus by Panamanian authorities. The company said eight others have tested positive for COVID-19 but 2,300 passengers and crew members are in good health.
DeSantis said at a later news conference that he was worried that if the passengers disembark in Port Everglades they will deplete Florida’s hospital beds, of which just 33 percent are available.
As has been seen throughout the world, Florida is urgently building field hospitals to cope with the surging numbers of coronavirus patients.
The governor said he has been in contact with the Coast Guard and the White House about diverting the ship.
Passangers of Holland America’s cruise ship Zaandam are seen as the ship navigates through the Panama Canal in Panama City
Broward County officials will meet Tuesday to decide whether to let the ship dock at its Port Everglades cruise ship terminal, where workers who greet passengers were among Florida’s first confirmed coronavirus cases.
Passengers were asked to keep their rooms dark and leave their drapes closed when they passed through the Panama Canal on Sunday night after days of wrangling with local authorities.
The Zaandam was originally scheduled to travel on March 7 from Buenos Aires to San Antonio, Chile, and then depart on March 21 for a 20-day cruise to arrive in Fort Lauderdale in early April.
But beginning March 15, the Zandaam was denied entry by South American ports, even before passengers reported their first flu-like symptoms on March 22.
The ship approached the coast of Panama last week and negotiated permission to cross the famous canal to the Atlantic Ocean on its way to Florida.
Canal administrator Ricaurte Vásquez said the country is not allowing any vessels with positive coronavirus cases through but made an exception for the ships.
‘That case (the Zaandam) was simply for humanitarian reasons,’ Vásquez said.
The cruise ship MS Zaandam, where passengers have died on board, navigates through the pacific side of the Panama Canal, in Panama City, Panama, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues
Nick and Celia Jones from Bristol in the United Kingdom who are onboard the MS Zaandam
Passenger Emily Spindler Brazell, of Tappahannock, Virginia, said the company has been accommodating, offering passengers extravagant meals, wine and unlimited phone calls. At the same time, it has been clear they have to stay in their rooms and not have any contact with crew members.
‘The captain said something like, ‘This is not a trip anymore. This is not a cruise. This is a humanitarian mission,” said Brazell, who was transferred to the Rotterdam on Saturday.
The Rotterdam now has nearly 800 guests and more than 600 crew members.
More than 300 U.S. citizens are on both ships combined.
Holland America President Orlando Ashford penned an opinion column in the South Florida Sun Sentinel to plead with officials and residents to let the passengers disembark.
‘Already four guests have passed away and I fear other lives are at risk,’ Ashford wrote. ‘The COVID-19 situation is one of the most urgent tests of our common humanity. To slam the door in the face of these people betrays our deepest human values.’