An Italian-flagged cruise ship with more than four thousand people on board has been docked in the port of Lisbon for two days, after 52 people tested positive for covid-19, confirmed the captain of the Port of Lisbon.

According to Captain Vieira Branco, in a declaration to Lusa, the cruise ship arrived in Lisbon on December 29, with 4197 people on board, between 1353 crew and 2844 passengers, of various nationalities, mostly German.

The source said that the health authorities, after carrying out the necessary procedures, gave permission to passengers and crew not infected, and who were still on board, to leave the cruise ship.

Permission was given for the vessel to leave the port of Lisbon, but the shipowner chose to remain until 2 January.

As reported to Lusa, the captain of the Port of Lisbon, on the day of arrival in Lisbon, and by legal requirement to leave the ship, all people were tested and 14 positive cases were detected among the crew, “all vaccinated and asymptomatic”, which were removed to hotel units in the city.

Later, explained Commander Vieira Branco, on December 30, another 38 cases were detected, bringing to a total of 52 crew members infected with covid-19, all of which are vaccinated and asymptomatic or show mild symptoms of the disease.

The captain of the port of Lisbon and local commander of the Lisbon Maritime Police said that the ship’s plan would be to leave Lisbon on December 30, heading for Funchal, on the island of Madeira, which ended up being made impossible by the national health authorities.

According to Commander Vieira Branco, the health authority also determined that crew and passengers were prohibited from being shipped from the ship, and during the night of the 30th, an assessment of the situation on board was carried out.

“This morning, after the global assessment, the health authority determined that the 38 departures, which happened at the end of the afternoon. Also, in view of being asymptomatic, they were disembarked to hotel units,” he said.

He added that, at the end of the morning, health authorities determined that “there was no need to maintain the restriction for other passengers and crew who were negative to leave aboard”, having also been lifted as restrictions on the departure of the cruise ship.

“Right now, the ship does not have any restrictions on the movement of passengers and crew on board, they are all external, and on the departure of the ship”, he guaranteed.

However, and according to Captain Vieira Branco, the ship’s owner decided to remain in the port of Lisbon until January 2, 2022, with departure on that day, at 18:00, to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, in Spain.