German cruise ship held in Lisbon amid virus outbreak

A German cruise ship ended its voyage early in Lisbon on Sunday due to an outbreak of coronavirus cases on board. The cruise ship "AIDAnova", of the German shipping company Aida Cruises, docked after a number of passengers and crew members tested positive for the virus. There are at least 64 people infected with the virus on the ship, the captain of the Port of Lisbon said Sunday.

Passengers with a negative COVID-19 test result are permitted to leave the ship if they wish. The cruise ship arrived in Lisbon on December 29, with 4,197 people on board, including 1.353 crew and 2.844 passengers, of various nationalities, mostly German. On December 31, Portuguese health authorities gave authorization for the ship to leave, but the ship-owner chose to stay until January 2, the day it had planned to set sail for Lanzarote, Spain.