Passengers board cruise ship after family tests negative for coronavirus

Four passengers aboard a ship that came into Bayonne Friday tested negative for coronavirus, according to Gov. Phil Murphy.

News 12 Staff

Feb 9, 2020, 12:31 PM

Updated 1,778 days ago

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The Royal Caribbean Anthem Of The Seas cruise ship that has been docked in Bayonne since returning on Friday will be able to set sail Monday.
Passengers began boarding the Anthem of the Seas ship Sunday after four passengers who were aboard the ship that came in Friday tested negative for coronavirus.
The Anthem of the Seas was supposed to leave Saturday night, but is now expected to leave port Monday.
Several passengers on the ship had to be evaluated for coronavirus. They had recently traveled to China and all tested negative for coronavirus.
Three of those passengers stayed in the same cabin and were diagnosed with the flu. The fourth person stayed in a separate cabin and did not have any symptoms.
In a statement, Gov. Murphy said in part, "After the evaluation at the hospital, the Center for Disease Control permitted the four individuals who arrived Friday via a cruise ship to be discharged. New Jersey currently has no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and the risk to residents remains low."
The Port Authority confirmed that a crew member was found dead, but investigators say his death was not related to coronavirus and was not suspicious.
The ship will now cruise to Bermuda instead of Florida and the Bahamas and the cruise has been shortened by three days.
Royal Caribbean apologized to those impacted by the delay and offered options for anyone on the cruise.