Updated Apr 5, 2020 - Health

Third Coral Princess cruise ship passenger dies in Miami

Rebecca Falconer

An ambulance takes a patient from the cruise ship Coral Princess to the hospital as the ship is docked at the Port of Miami, Florida — An ambulance takes a patient to the hospital from the Coral Princess at the Port of Miami, Florida, on Saturday. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

A third passenger from the coronavirus-stricken Coral Princess cruise ship has died after being taken to hospital, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a statement Sunday.

Details: The ship was carrying 1,020 guests and 878 crew members when it docked at the Port of Miami on Saturday, per operator Princess Cruises. Two passengers had already died before it arrived at the port, Gimenez said. The cause of their deaths was not immediately disclosed.

Disembarkation began Saturday and is expected to take days. Passengers continued to leave the ship Sunday, but it was "limited to those departing on chartered flights arranged by Princess Cruises to California, Australia and the United Kingdom," the firm said in a statement. All guests are to be screened before they leave the vessel.
"Guests requiring shoreside medical care will be prioritized to disembark first," Princess Cruises said.

Zoom in: 12 of those on board tested positive for COVID-19, Princess Cruises said. Those with respiratory symptoms, or who are still recovering, will remain on board until medically cleared by the ship’s doctors.

Five people were taken to the hospital from the vessel Saturday, Gimenez said. Eight more passengers were taken to hospital Sunday.

The big picture: Princess Cruises announced a week after the Coral Princess' March 5 departure from Santiago, Chile, that it was pausing global operations for two months in response to the pandemic.

Go deeper: Carnival CEO defends coronavirus response

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details on the disembarkation process and news of the third death.

Add Axios on Google

Third Coral Princess cruise ship passenger dies in Miami

What to read next