Thailand has refused entry to passengers aboard the Westerdam cruise ship and did not allow the vessel to dock in the port of Laem Chabang due to the lack of reagents on the ship needed to test the tourists for coronavirus, Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2020) Thailand has refused entry to passengers aboard the Westerdam cruise ship and did not allow the vessel to dock in the port of Laem Chabang due to the lack of reagents on the ship needed to test the tourists for coronavirus, Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday.
The vessel departed from Hong Kong on February 1.
"There are no sick passengers on the ship, but there are no reagents necessary for laboratory tests to detect coronavirus in the body. There could be people who test positive, but without tests, it is impossible to determine the virus' presence or absence. And without the necessary reagents, it is impossible to conduct the tests," Charnvirakul said on a broadcast by the Thai PBS service.
The official added that it was too risky to let Westerdam dock in Thailand.
"We are ready to help passengers and the crew with fuel, food, drinking water and medicines, but we are not ready to let the liner in the Thai port," Charnvirakul noted.
Holland America Line, the company that owns Westerdam, said later in the day that the ship was heading to the port of Sihanoukville in Cambodia.
"Westerdam is now sailing for Sihanoukville, Cambodia, arriving at 7am local time [12:00 GMT] on Feb 13 & will remain in port for several days for disembarkation. All approvals have been received & we are extremely grateful to the Cambodian authorities for the support," the company wrote on Twitter.
The new strain of coronavirus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in the Hubei province in late December and has since spread to more than 20 other countries. So far, the virus has infected over 45,000 people worldwide, resulting in the deaths of over 1,110 people. There are 45 confirmed cases of infection in Europe to date.
