Entire crew of Tui-Schiff is tested on Covid-19

Tui Cruises has almost 3000 crew members on board "Mein Schiff 3", which serves as a collective transporter in the Corona crisis. One person tested positive for the virus. Now the entire remaining crew must be able to be tested.

Cuxhaven / Hamburg (dpa) - After a confirmed Corona case, the tourism company Tui Cruises is now testing the entire crew on the cruise ship "Mein Schiff 3" in Cuxhaven.

The results should be available on Monday evening at the earliest, said a spokeswoman. The infected crew member showed only mild symptoms, was now in the isolation ward of the Helios Clinic in Cuxhaven and was "well", it said.

The ship, which is currently being used as a kind of collective transporter for almost 3,000 employees, was quarantined on Friday. According to Tui Cruises, 15 employees turned to the on-board hospital after starting in Cuxhaven with "mild flu-like symptoms". The health department and the port medical service of the district of Cuxhaven then ordered corona tests - which showed a positive result.

With initially 229 additional crew members tested, the test was negative. "To rule out further contagion, Tui Cruises has coordinated with the authorities to now test the entire remaining crew," the company said. A total of 2,899 crew members are currently on board, who are now being examined by a "smear team".

"Mein Schiff 3" will then leave the port of Cuxhaven for the time being, for "technical reasons" such as environmental regulations. The aim is that she can then moor in a German port from where the crew members can then go home.