In the South Pacific, cruisers on Ponant's ship Paul Gauguin (docked in Papeete, Tahiti Island, French Polynesia) were told to stay in their cabins Saturday evening, August 1, after COVID cases were detected by the ship’s doctor.
MS Paul Gauguin was cruising between Bora Bora Island (Society Islands, French Polynesia) and Rangiroa Atoll (Tuamotus French Polynesia) when a positive Coronavirus case was detected in a crew member. The cruise liner immediately turned around to sail back to homeport Papeete.
It was not revealed how many passengers were onboard at the time as the vessel's max passenger capacity had been reduced by the company’s Coronavirus protocols. However, infectious disease specialists will test everyone onboard.
Paul Gauguin resumed operations on July 18 for local residents, and on July 29 for international passengers. French Polynesia opened borders to all nationalities on July 15.
Travellers to French Polynesia have to take a COVID-19 test and return a negative result within 3 days of leaving for the islands. A further test for the virus is required shortly after arrival.
For more Paul Gauguin accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.