A Nile cruise ship carrying over 150 tourists and Egyptian crew is under quarantine in the southern city of Luxor after 12 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday
March 7, 2020, 9:02 AM
2 min read
BEIJING -- The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak (all times local):
5 p.m.
A Nile cruise ship carrying over 150 tourists and Egyptian crew is under quarantine in the southern city of Luxor after 12 people tested positive for the coronavirus.
Egyptian health authorities say a Taiwanese-American tourist on board the ship had tested positive for the virus upon returning to Taiwan late in February.
Local officials said there are Americans, French and Indians among the passengers. A health official said that the 12 are isolated inside the ship while the rest are awaiting test results.
The new infections bring the total number of cases in Egypt to 15.
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4:45 p.m.
Malaysia has turned away a cruise ship carrying around 2,000 passengers and crew from a port in northern Penang state, becoming the second country to bar the ship from docking after Thailand.
The Costa Fortuna was turned away from the popular resort island of Phuket in southern Thailand on Friday due to the presence of 64 Italians on board. Thai health authorities have officially designated Italy a dangerous communicable disease area because it has been hit hard by the coronavirus.
Phee Boon Poh, a Penang executive councilor, said he was informed by the Penang port that it had turned away the cruise liner Saturday morning following a directive from the transport ministry. He said the ship was now making its way to Singapore.
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