This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/19/ebola-cruise-ship-returns-texas-woman-quarantine

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Cruise ship carrying woman monitored for Ebola returns to Texas Cruise ship carrying woman monitored for Ebola returns to Texas
(about 1 hour later)
A Texas-based cruise ship carrying a Dallas healthcare worker who is being monitored for signs of Ebola returned to port early on Sunday, company officials said. A cruise ship carrying a Dallas healthcare worker who was being monitored for Ebola returned to port on Sunday after an eventful seven-day trip in which passengers had their vacations briefly disrupted with an infectious disease scare.
The unidentified woman who is being monitored disembarked the Carnival Magic with her husband shortly after the ship returned to Galveston, Texas, about 6am eastern time, said Vicky Rey, vice-president of guest care for Carnival Cruise Lines. Rey said the couple drove themselves home, but offered no further details. A lab supervisor who handled a specimen from Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who died from Ebola in Dallas on 8 October, showed no symptoms during the cruise but self-quarantined out of caution. Carnival Cruise Lines told passengers the unidentified woman was tested for Ebola but the results were negative.
Company and federal officials have said the woman being monitored for Ebola poses no risk because she has shown no symptoms and has voluntarily self-quarantined. Vicky Rey, vice-president of guest care for Carnival Cruise Lines, said the woman and her husband drove themselves home after arriving in Galveston early on Sunday, but offered no further details.
Petty officer Andy Kendrick told the Associated Press a Coast Guard crew flew in a helicopter on Saturday to meet the Carnival Magic and retrieved a blood sample from the woman. He said the blood sample was taken to a state lab in Austin for processing. The Ebola scare added some drama to the trip for hundreds of passengers.
Kendrick had no further details about how the sample was taken. He said the decision to take the sample was made in coordination with the federal, state and local health authorities. They learned through a public address announcement that one of the passengers was being monitored for Ebola. They watched developments about the Ebola outbreak and their ship on the news. The boat was not allowed to dock in Cozumel, depriving passengers of one of the top port destinations. Travellers snapped pictures of a Coast Guard helicopter as it landed to get a blood sample from the passenger.
Obama administration officials said the passenger handled a lab specimen from Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who died from Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month. Officials said the woman poses no risk because she has shown no signs of illness for 19 days and has voluntarily self-quarantined on the cruise ship. “We weren’t worried. We ended up just hanging out and enjoying the rest of the trip,” said Meredith Brooks, a Houston banker who was on her honeymoon.
Officials had been seeking ways to return the woman and her husband to the US before the ship completed its cruise on Sunday. State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that when the woman left the US on the cruise ship from Galveston, Texas, on 12 October, health officials were requiring only self-monitoring. State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that when the woman left the US on the cruise ship from Galveston on 12 October, health officials were requiring only self-monitoring. Officials stepped up their response while the cruise was under way and two nurses at the hospital which treated Duncan were diagnosed with Ebola.
Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement that the woman, a lab supervisor, remained in isolation “and is not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew”. Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement that the woman was “not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew”.
“We are in close contact with the CDC, and at this time it has been determined that the appropriate course of action is to simply keep the guest in isolation on board,” the statement said, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“We are in close contact with the CDC, and at this time it has been determined that the appropriate course of action is to simply keep the guest in isolation on board,” the statement said, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The ship was refused clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico on Friday, a day after Belize refused to let the passenger leave the vessel. Petty officer Andy Kendrick told the Associated Press a Coast Guard crew flew in a helicopter on Saturday to meet the Carnival Magic and retrieved a blood sample from the woman. He said the blood sample was taken to a state lab in Austin for processing.
A spokeswoman for the cruise line, Jennifer De La Cruz, said that when the Magic made a port call in Belize, other passengers were allowed to disembark with the exception of the healthcare worker and her spouse. The ship was refused clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico on Friday, a day after Belize refused to let the passenger leave the vessel. There were no restrictions placed on other passengers aboard the ship, officials said.
There have been no restrictions placed on other passengers aboard the ship, officials said. Passenger James Dinkley of Thelma, Texas, took the cruise to celebrate his one-year wedding anniversary with his wife. He said there was some initial confusion and agitation after they learned of the situation, were delayed in Belize for several hours and had the Cozumel visit cancelled. But he said the cruise line kept everyone informed with regular updates after that.
The cruise line said on Friday that after not receiving clearance, the ship had left Cozumel waters shortly after noon with the goal of returning to its home port of Galveston on Sunday morning as originally scheduled. “There was a lot of confusion, especially when they canceled our Cozumel day,” he said.
Carnival gave passengers credit for the missed Cozumel leg.