MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

German cruise to Canary Islands interrupted in Portugal because of Covid outbreak

After the first positive cases emerged, operator AIDA Cruises on Sunday chose to halt the cruise “in the interest of the safety and health of its guests and crew,” a spokesman said.

Some 3,000 passengers saw their Canary Islands-bound cruise definitively halted on Monday in Lisbon following an outbreak of Covid 19 in the AIDAnova vessel. At least 64 people tested positive for the virus while on the ship, which is owned by the German company Aida Cruises.

The cruise had originally arrived in Lisbon on December 29, with 4,197 people on board.

Speaking to the Portuguese Lusa news agency, the Lisbon Port captain explained another 12 cases of COVID-19 were detected on Sunday, between eight crew and four passengers, in addition to the 52 cases flagged in recent days.

Portuguese health authorities gave authorization for the ship to leave on December 31, but the ship's owner chose to stay until January 2, the day it was due to sail to the Spanish island of Lanzarote.

After the first positive cases emerged, operator AIDA Cruises on Sunday chose to halt the cruise “in the interest of the safety and health of its guests and crew,” a spokesman said.
AIDA Cruises stated that “all guests on board AIDAnova from the age of 12 and our crew are fully vaccinated” and tested via antigen tests prior to arrival and also prior to boarding with PCR tests in the cruise terminal.

The 5,200-capacity AIDAnova, which went into service in 2018, was due to sail out of Lisbon on Wednesday afternoon. Its next cruise booking is a January 15 departure from La Palma to the Canaries