UPDATE - September 29:
Turns out the COVID scare on board this cruise ship for the crew members was actually a false alarm. The crew has all tested negative.
A COVID-19 scare has reportedly arisen aboard one of the first large-scale cruise ships to restart sailings in the Mediterranean.
Carrying 922 passengers, the TUI Cruises vessel 'Mein Schiff 6' just set sail on a seven-night voyage around Greece, departing from the port of Heraklion in Crete. Twelve of the 666 crew members aboard tested positive for COVID-19 as part of routine monitoring of the ship's crew after 150 employees were randomly tested.
In a statement issued to The Points Guy, the cruise line said that those dozen crew members have been put into isolation and are being retested using rapid-test equipment available onboard. None of those who tested positive have thus far displayed any symptoms.
While the rapid-test results that have come back for six of the 12 affected crew members were negative, laboratory tests for COVID-19 are considered more accurate, so further swabs will be taken and sent to an external laboratory for a third round of testing, TUI said in a statement.
TUI said that the isolation of those dozen crew members who had come up positive is "a purely precautionary measure" and that the retesting was being conducted "to rule out the unlikely case of infection". It also stated that, "thanks to the extensive hygiene measures and clearance rules on board, there is no reason for neither guests nor crew to worry."
TUI Cruises, a German line that's partially owned by Royal Caribbean Group is the only cruise line affiliated with Royal Caribbean to have resumed sailing since the pandemic put a halt to global cruise operations.
It returned to service two weeks ago, adding cruises around Greece, but had also been running "cruises to nowhere" with two vessels ported in northern Germany since July for enthusiasts in the throes of cruising withdrawals.
When the positive COVID-19 tests showed up aboard Mein Schiff 6, she had just begun her third sailing around Greece since TUI's restart. The ship is now heading to the Port of Piraeus, Athens' main seaport, where it had been scheduled to stop before wrapping up the nine-day voyage back in Crete.
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