COVID-19 chaos: MSC Fantasia passengers 'kept in the dark' until day of disembarkation


At 2 a.m. on Tuesday, MSC Fantasia passenger Julie Cruickshanks, 63, received a letter. It was pushed under the door in her stateroom on the Panamanian-flagged cruise ship, which was resting in port in Lisbon, Portugal.

a blue and white boat sitting next to a body of water: 17. MSC Fantasia, built by MSC Cruises in 2008, weighs 137,936 GT and carries 3,274 people at double occupancy.

After more than a week of confusion on board about itinerary changes, disembarkation processes, emails and announcements, Cruickshanks learned in the early hours of the morning she would be going home to Liverpool, England, that day – earlier than expected. 

On Sunday, MSC Fantasia disembarked its first group of passengers (all Portuguese nationals and residents) in Lisbon, the cruise line said in a statement provided by spokesperson Alyssa Goldfarb on Tuesday. After leaving the ship, two of those guests tested positive for coronavirus, the disease that has infected more than 417,000 people and killed more than 18,600 around the world, according to Johns Hopkins data.

“So far, British, Brazilian and German nationals/residents have disembarked, transferring from the ship to Lisbon Airport for their onward travel on MSC Cruises-provided charter flights,” Goldfarb said Tuesday, the same day Cruickshanks and the other remaining passengers began disembarking.

“l think they wanted us off quickly,” Cruickshanks told USA TODAY while riding a coach bus to the airport under police escort. ‘”It was chaos.”

After receiving the letter, she and hundreds of others corralled in the ship’s theater to pick up their passports. “We sat for four hours, all together.”

It’s common for cruise ships to hold onto passports on international cruises so passengers can have clearance to disembark at different ports around the world. The service is voluntary, Goldfarb told USA TODAY. 

Then, after having their temperatures taken twice on the ship, some Fantasia passengers boarded buses bound for the airport, where they were told to put a seat between them and the nearest passenger and to avoid sitting next to the windows. 

But Cruickshanks, who left the ship wearing a mask she had carried on board herself, said that precautions were not followed during the disembarkation process. It was the opposite of social distancing. 

“We were packed like sausages just trying to get off the ship,” she said. “It was stupid. It was very cramped. You were shoulder to shoulder – everyone pushing and shoving to get off.”

The disembarkation process is expected to continue through Thursday – at least. 

“This is due to the extremely limited availability of flights into many of the countries where guests reside. For the great majority of passengers, MSC Cruises has organized – under the guidance of local authorities – direct charter flights or other transportation by nationality,” the cruise line said.

Goldfarb told USA TODAY in an email that it’s been a challenging process to get passengers off the ship because countries are rapidly altering their border entry guidelines and airports are limiting flights.

In response to Cruickshanks’ allegation that it kept guests in the dark until the last minute, MSC said it notified passengers as soon as it was able to secure charter flights that could leave sooner than their original commercial flights, which were frequently being canceled and might have left passengers stranded. The cruise line said it made an “incredible” effort to update passengers whenever it got reliable information, in order to ensure the quickest and safest return trip possible.

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  • Slide 83 of 113: Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 9, 2020. China closed most of its makeshift hospitals for coronavirus patients, some schools reopened and Disney resort staff went back to work on March 9 as normality slowly returns to the country after weeks battling the epidemic.

  • Slide 84 of 113: A staff member removes waste after the final patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on March 8, 2020. - China on March 8 reported its lowest number of new coronavirus infections since January, with nearly all the 44 new cases in the outbreak epicenter Wuhan.

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  • Slide 87 of 113: In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers search for victims at the site of a hotel collapse in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sunday, March 8, 2020. Several people were killed and others trapped in the collapse of the Chinese hotel that was being used to isolate people who had arrived from other parts of China hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, authorities said Sunday.

  • Slide 88 of 113: Medics treat a patient infected with the new coronavirus, at a hospital in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2020. With the approaching Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, officials kept up pressure on people not to travel and to stay home. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who gave Iran's new casualty figures Sunday, reiterated that people should not even attend funerals.

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  • Slide 90 of 113: Volunteers spray disinfectant with a robot at a residental area in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 3, 2020. The world has entered uncharted territory in its battle against the deadly coronavirus, the UN health agency warned, as new infections dropped dramatically in China on March 3 but surged abroad with the US death toll rising to six.

  • Slide 91 of 113: A worker wears protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus as she watches over customers in a supermarket in Beijing on March 3, 2020.

  • Slide 92 of 113: Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in front of a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Korea, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The coronavirus has claimed its first victim in the United States as the number of cases shot up in Iran, Italy and South Korea and the spreading outbreak shook the global economy.

  • Slide 93 of 113: A woman walks past shelves where toilet paper was stocked and now sold out, at a shop in Tokyo on March 1, 2020. The COVID-19 viral outbreak across Japan and dozens of other countries has fueled concerns about the Summer Games, which open on July 24, after sports events were postponed or cancelled.

  • Slide 94 of 113: A woman, wearing a face mask amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, watches an anti-government rally in Bangkok on March 1, 2020.

  • Slide 95 of 113: People wearing face masks attend Mass at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The church decided to replace Sunday services with online ones for members' safety amid the spread of the COVID-19.

  • Slide 96 of 113: Medical personnel attend to a patient in critical condition at a hospital designated for coronavirus patients in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Sunday, March 1, 2020. China on Sunday reported a slight uptick in new cases exceeded 500 over the past 24 hours. They remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, the epicenter of Wuhan.

  • Slide 97 of 113: Students wearing Disney character hats and face masks leave Tokyo Disneyland on the day it announced it will close until March 15th because of concerns over the COVID-19 virus, on Feb. 28, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. A growing number of events and sporting fixtures are being cancelled or postponed around Japan while some businesses are closing or asking their employees or work from home. Prime Minister Abe has also asked schools to close for around a month as COVID-19 cases continue to increase and concerns mount over the possibility that the outbreak will force the postponement or even cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.

  • Slide 98 of 113: Mask-clad commuters make their way to work during morning rush hour at the Shinagawa train station in Tokyo on Feb. 28, 2020. Tokyo's key Nikkei index plunged nearly three percent at the open on February 28 after US and European sell-offs with investors worried about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

  • Slide 99 of 113: An Iraqi woman wearing a protective mask holds her cat as she poses for a picture during a protest against corruption in the Iraqi government in the southern city of Basra on Feb. 27, 2020. Mass rallies have Iraq since October, with protesters demanding snap elections and an independent prime minister as well as accountability for corruption and recent bloodshed. Meanwhile, the country confirmed its first novel coronavirus infection in an Iranian national studying in a Shiite seminary in the holy city of Najaf, in central Iraq, triggering widespread panic.

  • Slide 100 of 113: Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus at a bus garage in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 26, 2020. The number of new virus infections in South Korea jumped again Wednesday and the U.S. military reported its first case among its soldiers based in the Asian country, with his case and many others connected to a southeastern city with an illness cluster.

  • Slide 101 of 113: A couple wearing protective facemasks hold hands while walking along the waterfront in Hong Kong on February 22, 2020.

  • Slide 102 of 113: A woman riding a bus wears a facemask on February 21, 2020 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines.

  • Slide 103 of 113: Spectators wear face masks to help prevent the spread of the SARS-like virus that originated in central China as they watch the exhibition gala at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul on Feb. 9, 2020. South Korea has confirmed 27 cases of the new coronavirus virus so far.

  • Slide 104 of 113: A shopper wearing face mask pushes a shopping cart in front of an empty shelves inside a grocery store on Feb. 9, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong has 29 confirmed cases of Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), with over 37,500 confirmed cases around the world, the virus has so far claimed over 800 lives.

  • Slide 105 of 113: A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she has her temperature checked before entering a park with her child on Feb. 9, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 37000 in mainland China Sunday, days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency. China continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. In an unprecedented move, Chinese authorities have put travel restrictions on the city which is the epicenter of the virus and municipalities in other parts of the country affecting tens of millions of people. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 810 on Sunday, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and several others. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Some countries, including the United States, have put restrictions on Chinese travelers entering and advised their citizens against travel to China.

  • Slide 106 of 113: A child is seen wearing a facemask, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grows, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Feb. 3, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions on China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed more than 300 people and infected thousands more. On Sunday, the first coronavirus death outside of China was reported in the Philippines.

  • Slide 107 of 113: Coaches transport eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who have been evacuated from Wuhan following a Coronavirus outbreak, from RAF Brize Norton to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, where they will be quarantined, on January 31, 2020 in Brize Norton, England. Two people in the same family have been diagnosed with the Coronavirus in the UK.

  • Slide 108 of 113: A resident walks across a pedestrian crossing on January 31, 2020 in Wuhan, China. The city has continued to be evacuated and locked down by Chinese officials.

  • Slide 109 of 113: A Chinese girl wears a plastic bottle as makeshift homemade protection and a protective mask while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport on Jan. 30, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to over 7000 in mainland China Thursday as the country continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. In an unprecedented move, Chinese authorities put travel restrictions on the city which is the epicenter of the virus and neighboring municipalities affecting tens of millions of people. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 170 on Thursday, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and France. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert, and its emergency committee is to meet later on Thursday to decide whether to declare a global health emergency.

  • Slide 110 of 113: A man uses alcohol to disinfect the grounds nearby the Wuhan Huoshenshan hospital construction site on Jan. 28, 2020 in Wuhan, China.

  • Slide 111 of 113: Chinese police officers wearing masks stand in front of the Tiananmen Gate on Jan. 26, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of coronavirus rose to 1,975 in mainland China on Sunday. Authorities tightened restrictions on travel and tourism this weekend after putting Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, under quarantine on Thursday. The spread of the virus corresponds with the first days of the Spring Festival, which is one of the biggest domestic travel weeks of the year in China. Popular tourism landmarks in Beijing including the Forbidden City, Badaling Great Wall, and The Palace Museum were closed to the public starting Saturday. The Beijing Municipal Education Commission announced it will delay reopening schools from kindergarten to university. The death toll on Sunday rose to 56. The majority of fatalities are in Wuhan where the first cases of the virus were reported last month.

  • Slide 112 of 113: Chinese children wear protective masks as they wait to board trains at Beijing Railway station before the annual Spring Festival on Jan. 21, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to nearly 300 in mainland China Tuesday as health officials stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts confirmed can be passed from human to human. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to six on Tuesday and cases have been reported in other parts of Asia including in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

  • Slide 113 of 113: Disinfection professionals wear protective suits whilst spraying an anti-septic solution against the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a National Assembly on Feb. 24, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.

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Temperatures are checked before people enter a local city hall during a community quarantine aimed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Manila, Philippines, March 24, 2020.

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A medical worker in protective gear tends to a patient on March 24, 2020 at the new COVID 3 level intensive care unit for coronavirus COVID-19 cases at the Casal Palocco hospital near Rome, during the country’s lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,

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A man cleans and desinfects a taxi car in central Stockholm, Sweden, on March 24, 2020, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Covid-19.

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A security guard wearing a protective mask walks beside isolation tents that will serve as a quarantine facility for people showing symptoms of the COVID-19 following the enhanced community quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus in Manila, Philippines, March 24, 2020.

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A sign on the M8 motorway advises motorists to avoid travel where possible on March 24, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland.

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People practice social distancing as they sit on chairs spread apart in a waiting area for take-away food orders at a shopping mall in hopes of preventing the spread of the coronavirus in Bangkok, Thailand, March 24, 2020.

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Staff members spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on March 24, 2020. China announced on March 24 that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the COVID-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year.

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People wearing face masks arrive at the South Municipal cemetery in Madrid, on March 23, 2020, to attend the burial of a man who died of the new coronavirus. The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 2,182 after 462 people died within 24 hours, the health ministry said. The death rate showed a 27-percent increase on the figures released a day earlier, with the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rising to 33,089 in Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in the world after China and Italy.

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A government worker that is part of a combined task force tackling COVID-19 coronavirus fumigates a neighborhood as part of safety precautions, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on March 23, 2020.

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Palestinian groom Mohamed abu Daga and his bride Israa wear face masks amid the COVID-19 epidemic, during a photoshoot at a studio before their wedding ceremony in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Gaza on March 23, 2020. Authorities in Gaza confirmed on March 22 the first two cases of novel coronavirus, identifying them as Palestinians who had travelled to Pakistan and were being held in quarantine since their return, as the United Nations warned of potential disastrous outcomes to an outbreak given the high poverty rates and weak health system in the coastal strip, under Israeli blockade since 2007.

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Children are seen wearing face masks inside a house of a slum community on March 23, 2020 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has sealed off Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Land, sea, and air travel has been suspended, while government work, schools, businesses, and public transportation have been ordered shut in a bid to keep some 55 million people at home. The Philippines’ Department of Health has so far confirmed 462 cases of the new coronavirus in the country, with at least 33 recorded fatalities.

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A temple worker wearing a mask to protect himself from the coronavirus COVID-19 attaches a name card with a wish to a lantern at Jogyesa Temple as Buddhists prepare to celebrate Buddha’s birthday on March 23, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea has called for expanded public participation in social distancing for the next two weeks, as the country witnesses a wave of community spread and imported infections leading to a resurgence in new cases of COVID-19. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, 64 new cases were reported. The total number of infections in the nation tallies at 8,961.

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Closed playground signs at Kitsilano Beach. The Vancouver Park Board closed all the outdoor recreation facilities in the city on March 23, 2020and their corresponding parking lots. Outdoor facility closures now include; tennis courts, hockey rinks, skateboard parks along with removing the logs on all the city beaches used by people to sit together. All of these measures reflect the increasing problem of having the general public impose the self-isolation measures recommended by the provincial health minister in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19.

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A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in East Java, Indonesia on March 23, 2020.

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People wait in line to get a coronavirus test outside the La Timone hospital in Marseille, France, March 23, 2020.

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A volunteer hands out relief goods for residents of a slum community undergoing home quarantine on strict orders of the government on March 23, 2020 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has sealed off Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Land, sea, and air travel has been suspended, while government work, schools, businesses, and public transportation have been ordered shut in a bid to keep some 55 million people at home. The Philippines’ Department of Health has so far confirmed 462 cases of the new coronavirus in the country, with at least 33 recorded fatalities.

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A replica of an elephant with a face mask is driven on trailer pulled by a car to bring awareness during a one-day Janata (civil) curfew imposed by the government amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Chennai on March 22, 2020.

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Don Giuseppe Corbari, parson of the Church of Robbiano, adjusts prints of selfies sent by his congregation and glued to empty pews before celebrating Sunday mass in Giussano on March 22, 2020. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 21, 2020, ordered all non-essential companies and factories to close nationwide to stem a coronavirus pandemic that has killed 4,825 people in the country in a month. “The decision taken by the government is to close down all productive activity throughout the territory that is not strictly necessary, crucial, indispensable, to guarantee us essential goods and services,” Conte said in a late-night TV address.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks at a press conference about coronavirus, as journalists sit far apart, in Berlin, Sunday, March 22, 2020. German authorities have issued a ban on more than two people meeting outside of their homes, which they believe will be easier to follow than locking people in their homes. The vast majority of people recover from the new coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, most people recover in about two to six weeks, depending on the severity of the illness.

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A view of Via Laietana street as authorities control public movements in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 22, 2020. Spanish health authorities say intensive care units in the hardest-hit areas of Spain are close to their limit. The army was building a field hospital with 5,500 beds in a convention center in Madrid, where hotels are also being turned into wards for virus patients without serious breathing problems. For some people the COVID-19 coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, but for some it causes severe illness.

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A worker wearing a face mask, as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, rides his tricycle filled with garbage on a street in Beijing on March 22, 2020.

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Spanish designer Tila Ares sews handmade face masks at her workshop of in Portonovo, northwestern Spain, on March 22, 2020, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

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A woman prays while sitting alone at an empty closed church live-streaming a church service at Nairobi Baptist Church in Nairobi, Kenya on March 22, 2020.

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The French Marine Nationale carrier Tonnerre sails out of the port of Ajaccio on March 22, 2020, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, heading for the port of Marseille on mainland France. The Tonnerre is carrying 12 patients with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, from the island to the mainland where they will be taken to Toulon for medical supervision.

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A dog wearing a mask to prevent it from coming into contact with surfaces outside, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, walks on a street in Beijing on March 22, 2020.

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Two friends enjoy their lunch together at a safe distance in central Leeds on March 21, 2020, a day after the British government said it would help cover the wages of people hit by the coronavirus outbreak as it tightened restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.

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A man swims in the normally crowded popular beach Los Corales, in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, March 21, 2020. Most people are staying home after nonessential activities were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Chilean passengers rest as they remain standed at Mexico City’s international airport, on March 21, 2020.

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Aerial view of empty roads in Bogota, on March 21, 2020. Colombian authorities announced a mandatory isolation simulation for the extended weekend, from March 21 to 23, as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

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A health worker smiles after receiving a bouquet of flowers from a florist outside the Burgos Hospital on March 21, 2020, in Burgos, in northern Spain.

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French soldiers set up a military field hospital at the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France, on March 21, 2020, on the fifth day of a strict lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

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A priest wearing a face mask and holding a funeral rites book of common prayers walks inside the closed Monumental Cemetery of Bergamo, Lombardy, on March 20, 2020 during the country’s lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 (new coronavirus) pandemic.

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Face masks are displayed for sale in a street of Cali, Colombia on March 20, 2020, during the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

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Palestinian groom Imad Sharaf, wearing gloves and a face mask, accompanies his bride Bara’a Amarneh as they arrive at their home in the village of al-Dahriya, south of Hebron in the West Bank, on March 20, 2020. The couple celebrated their wedding wearing masks and gloves as caution measures during the corona virus COVID-19 pandemic. Guests were restricted to be first family.

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Muslim men perform Friday prayer at the distance of about one meter (3 ft) to each other as a social distancing effort to prevent the spread of new coronavirus outbreak at Al Akbar mosque in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, March 20, 2020.

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An Indonesian police officer sprays disinfectant in the Baiturrahman grand mosque, amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Banda Aceh on March 20, 2020.

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Vesselin Mareshki, right, leader of Bulgarian Political party Volya, and an MP from from his party wear protective suits during Parliamentary session in the Bulgarian National Assembly in Sofia, Bulgaria, on March 20, 2020.

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People stand apart as they line up to enter a supermarket in Rome, March 20, 2020.

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A barber wearing wearing a surgical mask at a hair salon in Soweto, South Africa, Thursday, March 19, 2020.

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Passengers ride the tube on March 19, 2020 in London, England. Transport for London announced the closure of up to 40 stations as officials advised against non-essential travel. Bus and London Overground service will also be reduced.

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A member of the orchestra of Opera Australia performs in Sydney on March 19, 2020. Musicians performed with their instruments to call on the company to reconsider its decision to stand down musicians without pay, and for the federal government to provide emergency financial support to the performing arts sector devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Workers of the Ryongaksan Soap Factory make disinfectant in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 19, 2020. North Korea has been engaged in an intense campaign to guard against COVID-19, though it hasnÕt officially reported any cases of infection.

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A passenger wears a face mask and plastic food bags on her face as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus after landing at Hong Kong’s international airport on March 19, 2020. On March 18, Hong Kong authorities began ordering all arrivals from overseas to wear electronic bracelets, connected to an app to mark your location, and two weeks self-quarantine.

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A vendor sells facemasks during a public holiday declared by the Sri Lankan government to avoid gatherings as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Colombo on March 19, 2020.

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A view shows a closed carousel for children on March 19, 2020 in Rome, during the country’s lockdown within the new coronavirus pandemic.

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Health personnel measure the temperature of a visitor at the entrance of the Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya on March 18, 2020. The Government of Kenya confirmed new positive cases of COVID-19 coronavirus on March 18, 2020, bringing the total official number of cases in the East African country to 7. African countries have been among the last to be hit by the global COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic but as cases rise, many nations are now taking strict measures to block the deadly illness.

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Thousands of Muslims attend a prayer session asking for safety amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, near Raipur in Lakshmipur district on March 18, 2020.Thousands of Muslims have joined a special prayer in a southern Bangladesh town seeking protection from the coronavirus to almighty, officials said on March 18 as the south Asian nation confirmed its first casualty by Covid-19.

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A man wears a face mask, amid concerns of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, as he visits Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon on March 18, 2020.

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Volunteers pack hand sanitizer and disinfectant that will be distributed for free in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on March 18 2020, as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

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Lawmakers wearing face masks as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 attend a session in Congress, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei delivered his emergency economic relief plan spurred by the coronavirus crisis.

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A street vendor, Abderrahim, 55, poses for a portrait while wearing a makeshift face mask made of fig leaves, in the Medina of Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy) ORG XMIT: XMS101

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A woman walks by the Esplanade du Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on March 18, 2020 in Paris as a strict lockdown comes into in effect in France to stop the spread of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus.

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Soap bubbles cover the steps of Wat Taimit Temple as volunteers clean the public areas as a safety precaution against the new coronavirus March 18, 2020, in Bangkok, Thailand.

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A deliveryman wearing a protective face mask pauses by a double-deck tourist bus decorated with a huge mask in the center of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on March 18, 2020. Ukraine late on March 16 announced shutdowns of public transport, bars, restaurants and shopping malls to stem the spread of the coronavirus after President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to act “harshly, urgently, perhaps unpopularly”. The government supported Zelensky’s proposals and introduced restrictions on domestic movement, including full closure of the country’s three metro systems in Kiev, Kharkiv and Dniprom until April 3.

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Commuters make their way through Waterloo Station on March 18, 2020 in London, England.

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A Chinese woman uses a plastic bag to cover her head while waiting for her flight at the departure area of Manila’s International Airport, Philippines on March 18, 2020. The Philippine government lifted a 72-hour deadline for thousands of foreign travelers to leave the country’s main northern region which has been placed under quarantine due to the growing number of coronavirus infections, officials said.

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A man sprays commuters with hand sanitizer as a preventive measures in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 18, 2020. African countries have been among the last to be hit by the global COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic but as cases rise, many nations are now taking strict measures to block the deadly illness.

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People wait around on the AIDAmira, an Italian registered cruise ship carrying mostly German passengers, as the ship is docked in Cape Town harbour, and is being quarantined due to several suspected COVID-19 cases on board, on March 18, 2020, in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Trucks are jammed in the early morning on Autobahn 12 in front of the German-Polish border crossing near Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, March 18, 2020. In order to make it more difficult for the corona virus to spread, Poland had reintroduced controls at the border crossings to Germany.

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A worker sprays disinfectant in Jordan’s archaeological city of Petra south of the capital Amman on March 17, 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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The UME (Emergency Army Unit) attend the train station in Granada, Spain March 17, 2020. Police checked passports and IDs at the Pyrenees’ border with France and along the 1,200 kilometer shared border with Portugal, as Spain re-established controls for incoming and outgoing travellers to stem the new COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

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The empty square in front of the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris, on March on 17, 2020, while a strict lockdown comes into in effect in France to stop the spread of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus.

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A resident wearing a face mask amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus walks past a graffiti of Buddha wearing face mask, in Mumbai on March 16, 2020.

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A street vendor wears a plastic bag as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 16, 2020. The Sao Paulo stock exchange closed down 13.9 percent Monday and the Brazilian real closed below five to the dollar for the first time ever in further fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

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Police disinfect a van at a hotel in Buenos Aires on March 16, 2020 before going to Ezeiza International airport from where a couple of US tourists will be expelled from the country for violating coronavirus quarantine rules. The couple defied restrictions imposed on visitors to try to limit the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

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Peruvian army soldiers control traffic in Lima on March 16, 2020, in an attempt to persuade the population to stay at home, one day after President Martin Vizcarra announced a State of Emergency and a two-week nationwide home-stay quarantine together with the closure of all borders to fight the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus. No fatalities have been recorded of the 86 cases of Covid-19 detected in the country.

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A woman wears a medical mask plane with her smartphone as she walks inside a Metro station in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 16, 2020. The Russian government says that it has decided to bar entry to all foreigners starting Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

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A soldier wears a face mask as he mans a checkpoint to inspect vehicles entering Caracas, Venezuela, are being inspected Monday, March 16, 2020. President Nicolás Maduro ordered Sunday residents in the capital and six states to stay home under a quarantine in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus According to the World Health Organization, most people recover in about two to six weeks from the virus, depending on the severity of the illness.

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Medical staff work at one of the emergency structures that were set up to ease procedures at the Brescia hospital in northern Italy, March 16, 2020.

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A Ukrainian border guard wearing a protective face mask checks the temperature of a woman queueing to enter Ukraine from the territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists at the checkpoint near Novotroitske village, Donetsk region, on March 16, 2020. Ukraine said on March 13 it would close its borders to foreigners for at least two weeks and stop all flights to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, as it reported its first COVID-19 fatality. “Ukraine’s borders will be closed to foreign citizens for two weeks,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the country’s Security and Defence Council, told reporters, adding that the measure will take effect in 48 hours.

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A young man wearing a face mask walks across an empty Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic, March 16, 2020. The Czech government has imposed further dramatic restrictions on the movement in efforts to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the government is declaring a quarantine for the entire country, an unprecedented measure in his country’s history that became effective on Monday.

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A Moscow metro depot employee disinfects a metro train in Moscow, Russia, March 16, 2020. Starting from early March, Moscow authorities have been sending people who traveled to countries most affected by the coronavirus epidemic and returned with flu-like symptoms to a new hospital on the outskirts of the city.

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© OSCAR DEL POZO, AFP via Getty Images

A woman crosses the usually busy La Castellana avenue in Madrid on March 15, 2020. France and Spain are the latest European nations to severely curtail people’s movements as countries across the Americas and Asia impose travel restrictions in a widening crisis over coronavirus, as the number of infections around the world passed 150,000, with nearly 6,000 deaths.

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© ANDREJ ISAKOVIC, AFP via Getty Images

Serbian medical worker checks the body temperature of a traveller on March 15, 2020, at the Batrovci border crossing between Serbia and Croatia. Currently there are 46 positive cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in the Republic of Serbia. Serbian government temporarily prohibits the entry of foreign nationals arriving from countries particularly affected by the virus. Serbian nationals coming from the affected area go to a mandatory solitary confinement at home, under medical supervision, for 14 days. Previously indoor mass events are cancelled, and no spectators at sporting events. The government has “temporarily closed” 44 border crossings (the main ones remain open), to road, rail and river traffic.

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© Bernat Armangue, AP

A Catholic worshipper using protective gloves prays with a rosary beads at the Santa Maria de Cana parish in Pozuelo de Alarcon, outskirts Madrid, Spain, Sunday, March 15, 2020. Pope Francis has praised people for their continuing efforts to help vulnerable communities, including the poor and the homeless, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The vast majority of people recover from the COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization, most people recover in about two to six weeks, depending on the severity of the illness.

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A Catalan Autonomous police officer, Mosso d’Esquadra, halts a woman who was jogging through Las Ramblas on March 15, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. As part of the measures against the virus expansion the Government has declared a 15-day state of emergency which will come into effect today.

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© Mauro Scrobogna, AP

People clap their hands and wave, in Rome, Saturday, March 14, 2020. At noon in Italy, people came out on their balconies, terraces, gardens or simply leaned out from open windows to clap for several minute in a gesture of thanks for the doctors, nurses, other hospital staff and ambulance crews who have been treating and helping infected patients.

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© Petr David Josek, AP

Medical staff members wearing protective suits take samples from a young boy to test for the novel coronavirus called COVID-19 at the Bulovka hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The Czech Republic’s government has approved further dramatic measures early Saturday to try and stem the spread of the coronavirus.

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People wearing masks and carrying supplies walk past a mannequin wearing a mask in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, March 14, 2020.

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© Yasin Akgul, AFP via Getty Images

Employees of the Istanbul Municipality wearing protective gear disinfects a subway carriage to prevent the spread of the COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, in Istanbul on March 12, 2020. Turkey announced on March 11, 2020 its first coronavirus case, a man who had recently travelled to Europe and is in good health.

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© Alberto Saiz, AP

Workers place a mask on the figure of the Fallas festival in Valencia, Wednesday March 11, 2020. The Fallas festival which was due to take place on March 13 has been cancelled over the coronavirus outbreak. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

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© Ezra Acayan, Getty Images

A disinfectant worker sprays anti-septic solution against COVID-19 aboard a firetruck along a street on March 11, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday declared a state of public health emergency as the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the country rose to 33 from just 3 cases last week. With over 115,000 confirmed cases around the world, the coronavirus has so far claimed over 4,000 lives.

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© AFP via Getty Images

Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on March 9, 2020. China closed most of its makeshift hospitals for coronavirus patients, some schools reopened and Disney resort staff went back to work on March 9 as normality slowly returns to the country after weeks battling the epidemic.

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© AFP via Getty Images

A staff member removes waste after the final patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province on March 8, 2020. – China on March 8 reported its lowest number of new coronavirus infections since January, with nearly all the 44 new cases in the outbreak epicenter Wuhan.

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© ZAID AL-OBEIDI, AFP via Getty Images

An Iraqi health ministry worker scans the body temperature of a driver of an incoming vehicle in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul on March 8, 2020, as part of measures against COVID-19 coronavirus disease.

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A protester sprays protesters with sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus during a rally demanding women’s right during the International Women’s Day in Tahrir square in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 8, 2020.

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© Lin Shanchuan, Xinhua via AP

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers search for victims at the site of a hotel collapse in Quanzhou, southeast China’s Fujian Province, Sunday, March 8, 2020. Several people were killed and others trapped in the collapse of the Chinese hotel that was being used to isolate people who had arrived from other parts of China hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, authorities said Sunday.

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© Mohammad Ghadamali, AP

Medics treat a patient infected with the new coronavirus, at a hospital in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2020. With the approaching Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, officials kept up pressure on people not to travel and to stay home. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who gave Iran’s new casualty figures Sunday, reiterated that people should not even attend funerals.

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A worker from the Guatemalan Health Ministry checks a passenger’s body temperature as a preventive measure against the new coronavirus, COVID-19, at the Aurora International Airport, in Guatemala City, on March 4, 2020.

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© AFP via Getty Images

Volunteers spray disinfectant with a robot at a residental area in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on March 3, 2020. The world has entered uncharted territory in its battle against the deadly coronavirus, the UN health agency warned, as new infections dropped dramatically in China on March 3 but surged abroad with the US death toll rising to six.

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A worker wears protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus as she watches over customers in a supermarket in Beijing on March 3, 2020.

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© Lee Moo-tyul, AP

Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in front of a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, South Korea, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The coronavirus has claimed its first victim in the United States as the number of cases shot up in Iran, Italy and South Korea and the spreading outbreak shook the global economy.

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© CHARLY TRIBALLEAU, AFP via Getty Images

A woman walks past shelves where toilet paper was stocked and now sold out, at a shop in Tokyo on March 1, 2020. The COVID-19 viral outbreak across Japan and dozens of other countries has fueled concerns about the Summer Games, which open on July 24, after sports events were postponed or cancelled.

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© MLADEN ANTONOV, AFP via Getty Images

A woman, wearing a face mask amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, watches an anti-government rally in Bangkok on March 1, 2020.

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© Ahn Young-joon, AP

People wearing face masks attend Mass at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 1, 2020. The church decided to replace Sunday services with online ones for members’ safety amid the spread of the COVID-19.

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© AP

Medical personnel attend to a patient in critical condition at a hospital designated for coronavirus patients in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province, Sunday, March 1, 2020. China on Sunday reported a slight uptick in new cases exceeded 500 over the past 24 hours. They remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, the epicenter of Wuhan.

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© Carl Court, Getty Images

Students wearing Disney character hats and face masks leave Tokyo Disneyland on the day it announced it will close until March 15th because of concerns over the COVID-19 virus, on Feb. 28, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. A growing number of events and sporting fixtures are being cancelled or postponed around Japan while some businesses are closing or asking their employees or work from home. Prime Minister Abe has also asked schools to close for around a month as COVID-19 cases continue to increase and concerns mount over the possibility that the outbreak will force the postponement or even cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.

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© CHARLY TRIBALLEAU, AFP via Getty Images

Mask-clad commuters make their way to work during morning rush hour at the Shinagawa train station in Tokyo on Feb. 28, 2020. Tokyo’s key Nikkei index plunged nearly three percent at the open on February 28 after US and European sell-offs with investors worried about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

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© HUSSEIN FALEH, AFP via Getty Images

An Iraqi woman wearing a protective mask holds her cat as she poses for a picture during a protest against corruption in the Iraqi government in the southern city of Basra on Feb. 27, 2020. Mass rallies have Iraq since October, with protesters demanding snap elections and an independent prime minister as well as accountability for corruption and recent bloodshed. Meanwhile, the country confirmed its first novel coronavirus infection in an Iranian national studying in a Shiite seminary in the holy city of Najaf, in central Iraq, triggering widespread panic.

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© Ahn Young-joon, AP

Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus at a bus garage in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 26, 2020. The number of new virus infections in South Korea jumped again Wednesday and the U.S. military reported its first case among its soldiers based in the Asian country, with his case and many others connected to a southeastern city with an illness cluster.

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© Vivek Prakash, AFP via Getty Images

A couple wearing protective facemasks hold hands while walking along the waterfront in Hong Kong on February 22, 2020.

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© Ezra Acayan, Getty Images

A woman riding a bus wears a facemask on February 21, 2020 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines.

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© JUNG YEON-JE, AFP via Getty Images

Spectators wear face masks to help prevent the spread of the SARS-like virus that originated in central China as they watch the exhibition gala at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul on Feb. 9, 2020. South Korea has confirmed 27 cases of the new coronavirus virus so far.

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© Anthony Kwan, Getty Images

A shopper wearing face mask pushes a shopping cart in front of an empty shelves inside a grocery store on Feb. 9, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong has 29 confirmed cases of Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), with over 37,500 confirmed cases around the world, the virus has so far claimed over 800 lives.

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© Kevin Frayer, Getty Images

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she has her temperature checked before entering a park with her child on Feb. 9, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than 37000 in mainland China Sunday, days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency. China continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. In an unprecedented move, Chinese authorities have put travel restrictions on the city which is the epicenter of the virus and municipalities in other parts of the country affecting tens of millions of people. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 810 on Sunday, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and several others. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert and screening has been stepped up at airports around the world. Some countries, including the United States, have put restrictions on Chinese travelers entering and advised their citizens against travel to China.

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© Ezra Acayan, Getty Images

A child is seen wearing a facemask, as public fear over China’s Wuhan Coronavirus grows, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Feb. 3, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions on China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed more than 300 people and infected thousands more. On Sunday, the first coronavirus death outside of China was reported in the Philippines.

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© Leon Neal, Getty Images

Coaches transport eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who have been evacuated from Wuhan following a Coronavirus outbreak, from RAF Brize Norton to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, where they will be quarantined, on January 31, 2020 in Brize Norton, England. Two people in the same family have been diagnosed with the Coronavirus in the UK.

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© Stringer, Getty Images

A resident walks across a pedestrian crossing on January 31, 2020 in Wuhan, China. The city has continued to be evacuated and locked down by Chinese officials.

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© Kevin Frayer, Getty Images

A Chinese girl wears a plastic bottle as makeshift homemade protection and a protective mask while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport on Jan. 30, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to over 7000 in mainland China Thursday as the country continued to lock down the city of Wuhan in an effort to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts have confirmed can be passed from human to human. In an unprecedented move, Chinese authorities put travel restrictions on the city which is the epicenter of the virus and neighboring municipalities affecting tens of millions of people. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to over 170 on Thursday, mostly in Hubei province, and cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and France. The World Health Organization has warned all governments to be on alert, and its emergency committee is to meet later on Thursday to decide whether to declare a global health emergency.

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A man uses alcohol to disinfect the grounds nearby the Wuhan Huoshenshan hospital construction site on Jan. 28, 2020 in Wuhan, China.

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© Betsy Joles, Getty Images

Chinese police officers wearing masks stand in front of the Tiananmen Gate on Jan. 26, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of coronavirus rose to 1,975 in mainland China on Sunday. Authorities tightened restrictions on travel and tourism this weekend after putting Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, under quarantine on Thursday. The spread of the virus corresponds with the first days of the Spring Festival, which is one of the biggest domestic travel weeks of the year in China. Popular tourism landmarks in Beijing including the Forbidden City, Badaling Great Wall, and The Palace Museum were closed to the public starting Saturday. The Beijing Municipal Education Commission announced it will delay reopening schools from kindergarten to university. The death toll on Sunday rose to 56. The majority of fatalities are in Wuhan where the first cases of the virus were reported last month.

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© Kevin Frayer, Getty Images

Chinese children wear protective masks as they wait to board trains at Beijing Railway station before the annual Spring Festival on Jan. 21, 2020 in Beijing, China. The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to nearly 300 in mainland China Tuesday as health officials stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts confirmed can be passed from human to human. The number of those who have died from the virus in China climbed to six on Tuesday and cases have been reported in other parts of Asia including in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

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© Chung Sung-Jun, Getty Images

Disinfection professionals wear protective suits whilst spraying an anti-septic solution against the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a National Assembly on Feb. 24, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.

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The ever-changing journey

When Cruickshanks boarded the ship in Rio de Janeiro on March 9, after traveling from London’s Gatwick Airport, everything seemed normal. She was meant to disembark in Barcelona, Spain, though the cruise was scheduled to continue on to Italy, which was placed under a government-mandated lockdown that same day due to the outbreak there. 

Then, slowly, as coronavirus continued its spread, closing borders and bringing nations to a standstill, things began to change.

More than 1,000 passengers decided to pack up and leave the ship during a March 13 port call in Maceió, Brazil, Claudio Ferreira, a Brazilian passenger who boarded MSC Fantasia in Rio, told USA TODAY.

Neither Ferreira nor Cruickshanks was part of that group, which Ferreira said disembarked out of concern over countries closing borders.

At the time, MSC told passengers that Fantasia would be sticking to its itinerary, which called for Ferreira to disembark in Genoa, Italy.

Eventually, after it was announced that ports were to be skipped, Ferreira said that MSC told passengers that the ship would dock in Marseilles, France, before landing on Lisbon as its final destination. 

MSC said that the situation began to change rapidly soon after the ship left Brazil, with port availability (including Marseilles and Genoa) changing on a minute-by-minute basis. When Lisbon became available, the cruise line opted to do the disembarkation there so that passengers like Cruickshanks could return home as soon as possible and not run the risk of running into more port closures. 

Cruickshanks said she thought MSC, which is based in Geneva, handled the situation badly.

“I feel the people on the ship should have been told what was happening. We were told nothing. We were kept in the dark about the flights, about all the ports we were going to,” she said. “They were still booking excursions knowing people were not going to these places.”

On Saturday, Cruickshanks told USA TODAY she truly had no idea of when she would actually get home. They were told that they would be docking in Lisbon and unless they had an airline ticket, they could not disembark. “Nobody seems to know anything.”

Eventually, she was told by a representative of Cruise Nation, the service through which she booked her MSC Fantasia sailing, that she would be going home on Wednesday.

That was before everything changed on Tuesday.

“To be honest, we didn’t know we were going home” until the 2 a.m. letter, Cruickshanks said.

They arrived at the airport without tickets and their bags were put on the plane. The only thing she knew was that she was going to London.

“We were not told we were disembarking and told nothing about this flight. We were not told where it was going; we didn’t know anything,” she said. “l don’t have a clue why.”

In a statement, the cruise line apologized to passengers for the inconveniences created by the situation and asked for their continued trust and understanding.

It’s not just MSC: The entire cruise industry is scrambling

More than a week after it announced it would suspend operations, members of the Cruise Lines International Association are still scrambling to get passengers off ships – often in the nearest port that will allow them to do so  – and send them home to wait out the virus.

As of Tuesday morning, approximately 7.1%, or about 20 of CLIA’s 277 member ships were still at sea and in the process of wrapping up voyages. The percentage of ships still in transit is down from 14% (or around 39 ships) Thursday.

“This is a highly fluid situation, with numbers changing by the hour as cruise ships around the world are completing their voyages,” Bari Golin-Blaugrund, CLIA’s senior director of strategic communications, told USA TODAY. 

“The vast majority of the rest are either at port, anchored or repositioning,” Golin-Blaugrund said. “CLIA members are focused on the safe and smooth return home of those onboard cruise ships that are currently at sea.”


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