Koningsdam Rotterdam cruise ship at the WICO dock during the morning time of Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 Photo Credit: VI CONSORTIUM
ST. THOMAS — A ship anchored at the West Indian Company Thursday named the Koningsdam Rotterdam issued a Code Red for its passengers this morning, after these passengers started vomiting en masse, according to a ship staff member.
The ship also sent out an official advisory. "Please be advised that our ship is in Code Red (several gastrointestinal illness cases), so our housekeeping department will be in place tomorrow morning to provide you with sanitizing kits in case any incident happens during the tours."
The advisory adds: "We kindly ask that you brief the guides, drivers and boat crew in advance, regarding this situation."
A staff member said while the ship claims the virus was not contagious, it seems as if passengers ate something from one of the islands.
The vomiting and nausea was not connected to the coronavirus, according to ship officials.
Code Red is an outbreak of norovirus or illness. It means the ship must undergo deep cleaning and sick passengers should stay in their rooms. Code Green and Code Yellow indicate less severe problems.
Government officials and corporate executives around the world are scrambling to limit the damage from the fast-spreading coronavirus as Russia tightened its border with China and the U.S. announced plans for a second evacuation of the Chinese city at the center of the epidemic, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In response to the virus, companies including Tesla Inc. and IKEA were forced to temporarily halt operations in China, WSJ said.
The action comes as two more countries — Philippines and India — confirmed their first case of coronavirus infections, bring to 20 the number of countries affected with the fast-spreading virus. To date, nearly 8,000 people worldwide have been infected, the majority being in China.
