Passengers of Silversea's Silver Whisper ship were not allowed to go ashore by themselves in Guayaquil (Ecuador) after 11 of them (out of 228 total) tested COVID-positive.
Silver Whisper became the first cruise ship of season 2021-2022 when moored in Port Guayaquil on Tuesday, January 18.
Nevertheless, the local authorities did allow healthy passengers to visit the city via 8 tourist buses, while the infected remained in isolation onboard.
3 healthy passengers, who ended their voyage at Guayaquil and were due to fly back home, were escorted to the Jose Joaquin De Olmedo Airport, according to instructions by the Health Ministry and local authorities.
All passengers were subjected to routine onboard PCR tests by Silversea. Those who had a negative test result were then checked by the Health Ministry in order to verify their compliance with sanitary protocols and Guayaquil City Council deployed 2 medical brigades to attend to vacationers.
Silver Whisper carries 228 passengers from several countries (USA, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Greece, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Barbados, Chile) plus 283 crew/staff.
The ship was scheduled to leave on Tuesday at 11:00 pm local time for Port Arica (Chile).
Silver Whisper marked the return of the cruise season to the country after ~2 years of being suspended due to the Coronavirus crisis.
For more Silver Whisper incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.