Passengers of the MS Westerdam have moved on to their destinations following the cruise ship's docking in Cambodia last week. However, a the passenger who traveled from the Cambodian port to Malaysia has tested positive of the Wuhan coronavirus.
Malaysian Health Official Raises Concerns on Screening Measures Taken
Following the disembarking of MS Westerdam passengers over the weekend, the director of Malaysia's health department Noor Hisham Abdullah argued that there should have been stricter medical screenings carried out for the passengers, The Guardian reported.
Abdullah noted that the health ministry was told only 20 people were tested during the disembarking process. "The fact one case is positive, [means] all other passengers [have] exposure," he pointed out.
When initial results of the 83-year-old woman's coronavirus tests emerged, Cambodian authorities requested for further review by the Malaysian health ministry. Holland America, the MS Westerdam's operator, also said the tests carried out were only preliminary.
However, Sunday marked a turn of events that confirmed after a second test that the woman who exited the MS Westerdam contracted the Wuhan coronavirus, officially named CoViD-2019.
While the American woman who traveled to Malaysia from Cambodia tested positive, her husband, who also showed some symptoms, did not get infected based on the early results.
The Cambodian government said tests carried out for Westerdam passengers were completed with the assistance of World Health Organization (WHO) experts and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) medical teams.
The Story of MS Westerdam Infected Passenger
The Daily Beast reported that after leaving the Silhanoukville port town in Cambodia, the confirmed case traveled to Malaysia with her husband and 143 other passengers who were allowed to exit the MS Westerdam on Friday.
After feeling sick at the Kuala Lumpur airport, the patient went to the hospital for treatment and roughly a day after touching down in Malaysia, Holland America confirmed that the passenger contracted the novel coronavirus.
At this point, health officials in countries where other passengers traveled to after disembarking from the Westerdam are scrambling to track the passengers down.
The goal is to ensure that each of the passengers and crew members on board the cruise ship be tested for the fast-spreading disease.
Experts Raise Questions on the Potential Health Status of Other Passengers
Health experts are now raising critical questions about the health status of other MS Westerdam passengers who have reached other travel destinations.
Some analysts noted that if the American woman who traveled to Malaysia did not show initial symptoms while onboard the cruise ship, it could also be possible that other passengers have the same situation.
Amid rising concerns over the condition of other MS Westerdam passengers, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Waz Azizah Wan Ismail said the country will block other passengers from the cruise ship, ABC News reported.
The news came as fears mount on how many more passengers of the quarantined Diamond Princess will test positive of the Wuhan coronavirus. Of the estimated 3,600 passengers and crew members, over 300 have tested positive.
Nearly 500 Passengers Travel Home
On Sunday, the Cambodian State Secretariat for Civil Aviation (SSCA) confirmed that 494 people on board the MS Westerdam have finally left the country to head home or go to other destinations.
According to local news outlet Khmer Times, the operator also revealed in a statement that over the past two weeks, it was confirmed that none of the passengers traveled to mainland China.
Before being allowed to dock at the Silhanoukville port, the cruise ship was denied entry by five other Asian countries: Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and Guam due to fears around the coronavirus.
Global health officials and government leaders have since showered praise on Cambodia for allowing the MS Westerdam, despite fears, to dock in the country after the ship wandered at sea for two weeks.
