Mexico allows ship to disembark despite rumors about coronavirus

An Italian-Swiss cruise ship that parked last Wednesday, 26, in the coastal region of Mexico , after Jamaica and the Cayman Islands denied landing for fear of new coronavirus cases , may dock in the country after fulfilling health standards, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Thursday.

“We are allowing him to park, so that those on the cruise can disembark. We cannot act with discrimination, they will have to comply with health standards ”, said the representative in a statement during the morning.

“We cannot act inhumane. Imagine the despair (of the passengers), of everything that is involved, ”said López Obrador.

Alejandra Aguirre, Secretary of Health for Quintana Roo, the state to which the island of Cozumel belongs, confirmed that two people - a 27-year-old crew member from the Philippines and a 13-year-old French passenger - have acute respiratory infections, but not related to the new coronavirus, according to preliminary diagnosis.

"After the investigation carried out by international health surveillance officials, we confirmed that there are no cases of the virus on board the cruise," an official told reporters.

She added that biochemical and genetic tests are being done to determine what type of respiratory infection they both have.

A state health official said Wednesday that the patient had been diagnosed with type A influenza, based on tests carried out by medical personnel on board.

Aguirre indicated that the man and the child are stable and in a period of remission of the disease, with no vital risks or symptoms that require hospitalization.