A total of 128 out of 217 people have tested positive for coronavirus on board Aurora Expeditions’ cruise ship Greg Mortimer, the cruise line confirmed yesterday (7 April 2020).

Of the 217 people tested, 128 of those tested positive for the virus, while the remaining 89 have tested negative.

Aurora Expeditions’ vessel has been held off the coast of Uruguay since 27 March due to an outbreak of coronavirus.

Six people who were taken to hospital after testing positive have been reported as stable. There are presently no cases of fever on board.

In a statement, the cruise line said: “We have been working on charters and flights for all onboard with the aim of disembarking our passengers as soon as possible.

“While our preferred plan had been to disembark all passengers simultaneously, the nature of the situation and the difficultly in securing flights has meant it is likely that the Australian and New Zealand.”

The company added: “We have been advised that European and American passengers that have tested positive to Covid-19, unfortunately must wait until they have a negative test result after which we will be able to organise their departure via Sao Paulo and then to their final destination.

“We will be retesting all passengers every 2 or 3 days from last test based on the availability of the Uruguayan lab to be able to process the test results. Accordingly, we will be organising a new swab for all positive passengers in the coming 2 days.

“We expect as passengers test negative we will then be able to organise their departure. We have notified our passengers’ respective embassies.

“Ideally, we hope that these passengers will be allowed to finish their quarantine onshore once the Australians and New Zealanders are off the vessel.”

European and US passengers that are negative will “hopefully be able to depart later in the week”, but this is subject to a second test and permission from the Uruguayan government, the cruise line has said.

US and European passengers that are positive will have to wait until they test negative before they will be able to fly home.

Australian passengers are likely to fly home Thursday or Friday, while the cruise line is seeking permission for New Zealanders to be able to travel, subject to agreement from the Australian government.

Aurora Expeditions has chartered an Airbus A340 that has been refitted to act as a medical plane to take passengers back to Australia.

The cruise line has appealed to the Australian government for support with the cost of the flight.

“The cost of the flight back to Australia is material and reflects the global aviation situation as well as the need to bring all passengers back to Australia,” said a spokesperson.

“It also reflects flying the plane from Portugal to Uruguay, onto Australia and then back to Europe as well as an extensive clean following the flight and the need for two flight crews.

“The final cost per passenger is undetermined at this stage. What we do know is that the hard cost equates to around AU$15,000 per passenger.

“We have asked the Australian government for support with this cost as we know that it is not viable for many people and we are working on a solution.

We have shared this information with our passengers to be 100 per cent transparent and are doing everything we can to ensure this full amount is not passed on to each individual.”

Greg Mortimer is one of the seven remaining CLIA cruise ships still at sea following the global suspension of sailings, the cruise body announced yesterday.

Visit gov.uk for the latest coronavirus travel updates.