Two passengers aboard the Celebrity Millennium cruise have tested positive for COVID-19, cruise officials confirmed Thursday.
The two guests, who are sharing a stateroom, are asymptomatic and currently isolating.
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"We are conducting contact tracing, expediting testing for all close contacts and closely monitoring the situation," a Celebrity Cruises spokesperson said in a statement.
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More Cruise Coverage
They also confirmed that this cruise has paying customers and is not a test cruise.
The cruise sailed from Aruba earlier this week and will end its excursion in St. Maarten. It was the first cruise ship since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to sail out of North America, the company confirmed.
The Celebrity Millennium is sailing with fully vaccinated crew members and passengers, the subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group said. Passengers are required to show proof of vaccination as well as a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours before sailing.
Cruise expert Stewart Chiron, who is also on that ship, said seven other passengers who were in close contact with the two passengers while on a tour in Barbados have also been quarantined to their cabins as they await PCR test results.
"It's been normal," Chiron said. "You would think, well, if people were concerned, you'd see fewer people at dinner around the ship, but the show is ongoing. The different dinners and the different restaurants have been ongoing. No one is wearing masks, so it appears that no one is too concerned."
