Cuba allows docking of virus-hit British cruise ship

Cuba said Monday it would allow a British cruise ship to dock with five people aboard infected with the coronavirus and nearly 40 others in isolation with flu-like symptoms.

They will be repatriated to Britain along with all the ship's passengers and crew -- 1,063 people in all -- Cuba's foreign minister said.

The MS Braemar, which is carrying 682 passengers and 381 crew, had been turned away from stops in Barbados and the Bahamas.

"Following request from #UK government, #Cuba has authorized docking of cruise ship MS Braemar with small number of passengers testing positive for #Covid-19," Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Twitter, using the official name of the new coronavirus.

Rodriguez said Cuba would follow protocols established with the World Health Organization for receiving the passengers and crew. Cuba agreed to the docking "in response to health emergency that might put the life of sick persons at risk," he said.

Olsen Cruise Lines, the ship's operator, said 22 passengers and 21 crew members were in isolation with influenza-like symptoms, including five who tested positive for the coronavirus at the ship's last stop in Curacao on March 10. "We are working around the clock to arrange evacuation flights from Cuba to the UK as soon as possible for passengers on the Braemar cruise ship," A British foreign ministry spokesman said.

Cuba became the 12th Latin American country to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic after three Italian tourists tested positive last week. A Cuban became the island's fourth confirmed case when he tested positive Thursday.

Unlike other Latin American countries, Cuba for the moment has announced no plans to close its borders, nor has it applied systematic quarantines for travelers arriving from pandemic-hit countries.