48 test positive for COVID aboard the world’s biggest cruise ship

Royal Caribbean said Monday that 48 guests and crew members on the Symphony of the Seas — the world’s biggest cruise ship — have tested positive for COVID-19. According to Royal Caribbean, 48 people out of 6,091 on the ship during the Dec. 11 sailing came back positive for the coronavirus after contact tracing. 

Six guests were disembarked earlier in the cruise and were transported home, the cruise line said. Four of the 48 were close contacts who tested positive at the end of the voyage.

The COVID-positive guests and crew members were quarantined on board as a result.

Royal Caribbean said that 98% of those who tested positive were fully vaccinated. As a whole, the cruise’s onboard community had fully-vaccinated rate of was 95%.

Earlier this month, a Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 17 passengers and crew members infected with COVID-19 docked in New Orleans, where health officials said the ship was disembarked amid efforts to prevent any spread into the community. At least one of the infected crew members was suspected to have the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Louisiana Department of Health said.