Costa Smeralda" currently in Civitivachia, with two suspected Corona virus infections on board!

[Alphen]

"Costa Smeralda" is currently in Civitivachia, with two suspected Corona virus infections on board. Authorities are going on board to investigate, nobody is allowed off. 

 

Some more shouting headlines are already blowing things out of proportion, but fact remains, these are SUSPECTED infections at this moment.

 

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-coronavirus-fears-6000-trapped-21392528

 

[CruiserBruce]

And you are shouting by your thread title as well...and another thread on the topic, with several already going...

[Alphen]

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

And you are shouting by your thread title as well...and another thread on the topic, with several already going...

You are correct, sorry about that.

[syesmar]

Prayers for all involved.  From what I understand, the Smeralda does 7 day Mediterranean cruises, with the same itinerary back-to-back-to-back.  There are 4 opportunities to embark/disembark during those 7 days (Savona, Marseille, Barcelona and Civitaveccia), so not all passengers arrive or depart from the same port.  I would imagine a great number of passengers were planning to disembark in Civitavecchia, as well as joining the cruise from there.  Praying that it’s not the virus.

[syesmar]

This article also gives some details of their itinerary thus far.  The couple boarded January 25 in Savona and the ship has called at Marseille, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/30/6000-passengers-trapped-cruise-ship-italy-feared-coronavirus/

Edited January 30, 2020 by syesmar

[Tom O.]

I wonder how they can tell the difference between Corona Virus, and ordinary Flu. I would think this would require some lab tests that would take time. 

[DivotMaker]

5 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

I wonder how they can tell the difference between Corona Virus, and ordinary Flu. I would think this would require some lab tests that would take time. 

 

Great question Tom, and the same one I'm curious about.  I was just reading an article where someone was quarantined because of a fever and thought to myself "how can they tell" that it's the Coronavirus based on that single sympton or are they just being extra cautious...

[Himself]

Thank you for the information.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Tom -- you are right -- it is hard to tell the difference between -- especially since the symptoms are so much alike.

 

Lots of testing has to be done which takes time.

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, Tom O. said:

I wonder how they can tell the difference between Corona Virus, and ordinary Flu. I would think this would require some lab tests that would take time. 

 

3 hours ago, DivotMaker said:

 

Great question Tom, and the same one I'm curious about.  I was just reading an article where someone was quarantined because of a fever and thought to myself "how can they tell" that it's the Coronavirus based on that single sympton or are they just being extra cautious...

 

In the case of the Chinese couple on the Costa cruise, they are looking for an active infection. They would probably use a real-time reverse transcription PCR test (rRT-PCR), which is a molecular test that can provide results in 15-30 minutes. This is what they've used to test for the previous novel coronavirus infections in humans: MERS and SARS.

 

It's pretty fast. The suspected couple has already been cleared. If they were trying to find out if you had been infected in the past, they would use a different test.

 

The viruses that cause flu and the coronaviruses are in two different groups of viruses.

[DivotMaker]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

In the case of the Chinese couple on the Costa cruise, they are looking for an active infection. They would probably use a real-time reverse transcription PCR test (rRT-PCR), which is a molecular test that can provide results in 15-30 minutes. This is what they've used to test for the previous novel coronavirus infections in humans: MERS and SARS.

 

It's pretty fast. The suspected couple has already been cleared. If they were trying to find out if you had been infected in the past, they would use a different test.

 

The viruses that cause flu and the coronaviruses are in two different groups of viruses.

 

Thank you cruisemom42, I find this very interesting and truly appreciate the detailed explanation  Super helpful. 👍

[bennybear]

You would also be quarantined with the flu.   

[syesmar]

I’m so glad it wasn’t the coronavirus.  This article mentions that 1,143 of the passengers were set to disembark at Civitavecchia. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/possible-coronavirus-case-cruise-ship-6-000-passengers-docked-italy-n1126471

Edited January 30, 2020 by syesmar