A quarantine area is seen at a cruise ship terminal, following the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, in Port Klang, Malaysia February 13, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – An 83-year-old American woman who had been a passenger on a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia has tested positive for the new coronavirus on landing in Malaysia, health authorities said on Saturday.
The American woman flew to Malaysia on Friday from Cambodia along with 144 others from the ship, the Malaysian health ministry said in a statement. The woman’s husband had tested negative, it said.
The MS Westerdam, operated by Carnival Corp unit Holland America Inc, docked in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville on Thursday after being shunned by five countries on fears that passengers could be carrying the virus.
The Westerdam, carrying 1,455 passengers and 802 crew, spent two weeks at sea.
The passengers were tested regularly on board and Cambodia also tested 20 once it docked. None was found to have the new coronavirus that has killed more than 1,500 people, the vast majority in China.
U.S. President Donald Trump has thanked Cambodia for taking in the ship in a rare message to a country that is one of China’s closest allies and has often been at odds with Washington.
(This story recasts first paragraph.)
Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi and Joseph Sipalan, Editing by Timothy Heritage
