MONTEVIDEO : Nearly 60 percent of 217 people — many from Australia, Europe and the United States — on board a cruise ship off the coast of Uruguay have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the ship's operator said Tuesday. “There are currently no fevers on board and all are asymptomatic," said Aurora Expeditions, the Australian operator of the Greg Mortimer ship that is working to disembark the crew and passengers and arrange flights to their home countries.
The Greg Mortimer departed March 15 on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia that was titled “In Shackleton's Footsteps," a reference to the polar explorer who led British expeditions to the region and died there in 1922.