At least 40 infected by Covid-19 on cruise ship Roald Amundsen

A recent outbreak of Covid-19 on a Norwegian-owned cruise ship has resulted in at least 40 of its passengers and crew testing positive for the disease.

The outbreak came after cruise operator Hurtigruten resumed sailings of Roald Amundsen with two scheduled round-trip voyages between Tromsø and Svalbard on July 17 and July 24, respectively.

Two of Roald Amundsen‘s 160 crew became sick and were subsequently isolated on board prior to the ship’s scheduled arrival in Tromsø on Friday, July 31, to conclude its second seven-day sailing.

These two individuals and another two crewmembers who also became sick later tested positive for the disease as confirmed by officials at University Hospital of North Norway.

As the remainder of the crew were placed under quarantine on the ship, all 178 passengers were cleared to disembark at Tromsø.

Norwegian authorities have been working to locate all the passengers of the July 24-31 voyage to prevent the further potential spread of the virus.

Some local officials said the passengers on the ship’s second voyage had not been notified of the outbreak prior to disembarking.

Tests conducted as of Monday, August 3, revealed that 36 of Roald Amundsen‘s crew — 32 of whom were Filipino nationals — and four passengers from both the July 17 and July 24 voyages have contracted the virus.

A senior executive of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) commented that additional infected individuals will likely be found in connection to the outbreak as authorities identify and contact all the other passengers to advise them to self-isolate.

Meanwhile, another NIPH official said that the outbreak on Roald Amundsen may have ended up affecting 69 Norwegian municipalities as the passengers on the recent voyages comprised residents from those same areas.