Cruise ship returns to Miami after COVID outbreak

A COVID-19 outbreak has taken place on a South Florida-based cruise ship for the third time this week. At the same time, the number of coronavirus cases in Florida has hit its highest level since the start of the pandemic.

Carnival said in a statement on Friday that an undisclosed number of passengers and crew aboard the Carnival Freedom cruise caught the virus so the ship was denied entry to Bonaire and Aruba.

The ship has 2,497 passengers and 1,112 crew members and was scheduled to return to Miami on Sunday following an 8-day cruise. Passengers were required to be vaccinated and they were tested before leaving last Saturday.