MYANMAR decided against allowing a tourist cruise ship, the Silver Spirit, to dock in Yangon with its passengers, days after agreeing to let them stopover for four days.
Khin Khin Gyi, deputy director of Contagious Disease Prevention and Eradication for the Public Health department, said the decision came from the highest level, according to The Myanmar Times.
“Our Health Minister advised the government not to allow the Silver Spirit to visit because the ship went through countries where there are outbreaks of Covid-19,” she said.
The Health ministry was in the midst of preparing to test all those aboard the ship once it arrives in Yangon when it received the order that the visit was cancelled on Sunday.
Earlier, the ministry had announced that the cruise ship will be allowed to stop in Yangon but each passenger as well as crew members will need to be screened.
The Silver Spirit, operated by the Bahamas-based Silver Sea Cruises, last stopped in Phuket, Thailand and was scheduled at Thilawa Multipurpose International Terminal in Yangon on Wednesday.
It was to stay in port for three nights and four days.
The ship was carrying 485 tourists from 22 countries and over 350 crewmembers, according to the Yangon Region Directorate of Hotels and Tourism. Most of its passengers are British.
U Thet Lwin Toh, managing director of Myanmar Voyages International Travel Co., which arranged the cruise tour, confirmed the cancellation of the visit.
“We share the concerns of the public about preventing the entry of Covid-19,” he said.
Tourism stakeholders in the country said that earnings in the sector could drop as much as 50 percent due to the effects of Covid-19.
Myanmar said thus far, it has no cases of the deadly disease, which has killed over 3000 people around the world.
Health authorities said that from January 31 to February 29, 43 people who showed symptoms of the virus had tested negative.
The ministry advised local officials to allow only essential public gatherings and urged the people to follow its guidelines on preventing the illness.
It announced on Friday that Covid-19 was an “epidemic or notifiable disease” under the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law, and anyone who withheld information on the disease from the authorities faced one month in prison or a fine of K30,000 (RM90).