US travelers wait days to leave cruise ship with virus cases

MIAMI (AP) — Dozens of Americans aboard a cruise ship that docked last weekend in Miami with coronavirus cases still waited Monday to disembark, delayed by new federal rules requiring cruise companies to bring them directly home to avoid more infections.

Two passengers died before the Coral Princess docked in Miami and a third passenger, a man, died at a hospital. It is not clear if the deaths were caused by COVID-19. Officials say 24 critically ill patients have been taken from the ship to hospitals for immediate care, including the man who died.

Foreign passengers were allowed to disembark after passing a medical screening and have been taken to the Miami international airport, where charter planes awaited them for flights abroad. But many of the 250 Americans aboard the Princess Cruises ship continued to await instructions, two days after their arrival in Miami.

“With the Americans, it is taking a little longer because they have to find more charters because of the requirements,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said during a video conference.

Gimenez said several Florida residents were able to leave the ship because the cruise line arranged ground transportation. Relatives of passengers from other states said they had yet to receive any news on when their loved ones would disembark.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday updated its recommendations for cruise lines requiring them to take travelers directly to their homes with charter flights and ground transportation. The federal agency said commercial flights and public transportation were not allowed amid the global pandemic.

For a cruise ship that arrived in South Florida on Thursday, passengers were flown to flight hubs where they could transfer to shorter commercial flights to their...