Genting Dream cruise services suspended till March 27

KUALA LUMPUR,21 Feb 2020:

Due to the ongoing concerns surrounding the current 2019 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, Dream Cruises has announced the voluntary suspension of Genting Dream’s operations from Singapore from this Sunday, Feb 23 until Friday March 27.

“Dream Cruises has made the difficult decision to suspend it operations from Singapore as a measure to help curtail the spread of Covid-19 and as a result of the tightening travel restrictions that have been enacted by various countries,” said president Michael Goh in a statement.

“Guests who are booked on any of the cancelled itineraries will be contacted and provided with a variety of compensation options including to defer their cruise to a future sailing or, if needed, to cancel their cruise for a full refund.”

The move comes amid health screenings of 678 passengers and 445 crew members of the MV Genting Dream cruise ship yesterday when it  docked at the Boustead Cruise Centre (BCC), Port Klang.

But none were found with Covid-19 symptoms, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

He said a team from the Ministry of Health (MoH) conducted health screenings for all other passengers and crew members after its arrival at around noon.

“Any symptomatic passengers will be placed under surveillance on board or at the BCC quarantine centre for further examination.”

He also stressed the cruise ship never stopped or passed through China.

The cruise ship, ferrying 957 passengers and 1,701 crew members, left for Singapore last night.

In another development, he said two Malaysians, a married couple on board of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan who tested positive for Covid-19, were in stable condition and being treated at the Fujita Hospital in Nagoya.

The husband, aged 71 and his wife, 66, were confirmed positive on Feb 16.

He said another Malaysian passenger, a 61-year-old woman, had been tested negative for Covid-19 and was allowed to return to Malaysia by the Japanese health authority upon completion of the 14-day quarantine period.

“Meanwhile, another Malaysian crew member on the cruise ship is currently being monitored by the Japanese health authority.”

The cruise ship has undergone a quarantine since Feb 4 at one of the seaports in Japan following the confirmation of Covid-19 infections amongst its passengers.

A total of 3,700 quarantined passengers on board of the ship, and 620 people were tested positive for Covid-19 with two deaths among those infected.

Meanwhile, Singapore MoH has confirmed one more case of Covid-19 infection in the republic – bringing the total number to 85.

The new case is a 36 year-old male Chinese national who is a Singapore work pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China.

MoH said he was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection yesterday morning, and was currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

“Contact tracing is underway to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to China,” said the ministry in a statement.

So far, six cases are linked to The Life Church and Missions Singapore, nine to medical shop Yong Thai Hang, three to the private business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore, five to the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site, and 22 to the Grace Assembly of God church.

MoH said three more Covid-19 infection cases were discharged from hospital – thus, in all, 37 have fully recovered from the viral infection.

Of the 48 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving while four are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

– Bernama