Posted on 10/17/2014 6:54:24 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
Reports tonight are that two individuals possibly infected with the Ebola virus are in Belizean waters. Local TV station Channel 7 monitored in the capital City Of Belmopan tonight, reported having credible reports that a couple from a Texas-based cruise ship presently anchored off Belize City, is on a ship tender, unable to return to the cruise ship, while being refused entry to Belize City to catch an air ambulance awaiting at the International Airport to take them to the their country of origin, the U.S.A. The television station in its broadcast tonight said Belize health authorities contacted tonight have so far refused to deny or confirm the report. The patient exhibiting Ebola symptoms has been confirmed to be a nurse at a Dallas hospital traveling with her husband.
Later tonight in breaking news, Channel 5 Belize reported that it has:
“Confirmed with representatives of the Ministry of Health that they have indeed received a report that there is at least one passenger on board the cruise ship, Carnival Magic, showing symptoms similar to that of the Ebola virus. According to the report made to MOH, the person exhibiting the symptoms did not come ashore today. The ship is reportedly carrying 3652 passengers and a total population of 4633 persons.
“The Carnival Magic departed from Galveston Texas on Sunday, October 12 arrived in Mahogany Bay, Honduras on Wednesday October 15 and arrived in Belize this morning, Thursday October 16.
“The ship was scheduled to leave Belize en route to Cozumel this evening at 5pm. However, it is still anchored in Belizean waters near State Bank Caye.”
“We have also have confirmed that the Belize Coast Guard has been deployed to prevent anyone from leaving the ship; including the Belizean pilot on board.”
In a press conference held last weak, Belize’s Ministry of Health stated that in the event of an outbreak of Ebola in Belize, no patient would be allowed into the commercial capital Belize City, where most of the Belize government cabinet officials reside. The MOH stated that the government hospital, the Karl Heuesner Memorial Hospital has but one Intensive Care Unit and they would not allow this to be overrun with Ebola patients. Belize is a a very poor country on the Yucatan Peninsula that depends to a large extent on tourism and grants from Venezuela for its foreign exchange income. Belize City is currently the main port of call for cruise ships.
Update: Channel 7 news anchor Indira Craig has posted on her Facebook page that Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow in a callous move in view of very close Belize-U.S. relations, has denied entry into Belize for the stricken U.S. nationals to be air lifted to the U.S.A. for treatment:
“Talks have concluded with the PM and The US State Department officials. Belize WILL NOT BE GRANTING ACCESS to the suspected passengers to have entry onto our shores. An official release will be sent out shortly by government followed by a press conference to be held tomorrow.Passports have been returned so this scare has ended.”
In a late night official press release issued by the Belize Press Office, the Belize government offered its version of the Belize Ebola Incident.It stresses that while the patient did not disembark in Belize, it does not address the question that thousands of cruise ship passengers that may have had contact with the patient(s) did in fact disembark and tour Belize City today:
Belmopan. October 16, 2014. The Government of Belize was contacted today by officers of the U.S. Government and made aware of a cruise ship passenger considered of very low risk for Ebola. The passenger had voluntarily entered quarantine on board the ship and remains free of any fever or other symptoms of illness. The Ebola virus may only be spread by patients who are experiencing fever and symptoms of illness and so the US Government had emphasized the very low risk category in this case. Nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, the Government of Belize decided not to facilitate a U.S. request for assistance in evacuating the passenger through the Phillip Goldson International Airport.
The GOB reassures the public that the passenger never set foot in Belize and while we remain in close contact with US officials we have maintained the position that when even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and safety of the Belizean people. The Prime Minister has called a press conference tomorrow morning to further address any concerns that may arise from this event.
Update From Carnival Cruise Lines: John Head, Carnival Senior Cruise Director wrote on his FaceBook Page:
“Late afternoon on Wednesday, Oct. 15., we were made aware by the U.S. CDC of a guest sailing this week on board Carnival Magic who is a lab supervisor at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. At no point in time has the individual exhibited any symptoms or signs of infection and it has been 19 days since she was in the lab with the testing samples. She is deemed by CDC to be very low risk. At this time, the guest remains in isolation on board the ship and is not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew. It is important to reiterate that the individual has no symptoms and has been isolated in an extreme abundance of caution. We are in close contact with the CDC and at this time it has been determined that the appropriate course of action is to simply keep the guest in isolation on board.”
I guess this short cruise is going to turn into an ordeal.
New idea for a sitcom...
O Malley will welcome them to Maryland, illegals too.
$$$ is no object, he can just raise our taxes again.
The new and improved LOVE BOAT.
At least Belize is handling this the right way. Wish I could say the same for our government.
I believe that this is a lie.
A floating petrie dish of senior citizens. On a ship this size at least one passenger would normally be expected to die of ‘natural’ causes on a typical cruise. If it happens on this one...Katy bar the door! God Save the Republic!
Wouldn't that be a gay clubs private cruise ship charter spreading the Aids around?
I can imagine the rest of the passengers aren’t too happy. Good thing the pair isolated themselves or the other passengers might have killed them.
The new and improved LOVE BOAT.
Not sure about the *improved* part...
Ebola Boat.
Starring Capt. 0bola.
I don't think so. They'll just skip that port of call and proceed to the next one that will accept them. Carnival offers a variety of Caribbean itineraries. Maybe they'll just give everyone free drinks and move onto the Port Canaveral destination. "Days at Sea" are party time, too.
Looks like the headline is wrong. The article says the worker is symptom free.
If this is the same ship that I heard about on Fox this morning, the two people are a health worker who dealt with samples from the lying Liberian, and her husband.
From the report this morning, neither one was showing symptoms after 19 days from handling the samples. Hopefully they are fine.
Why does the title say it is a patient with ebola symptoms and the article says the patient does not have any symptoms?
I assume this ship of over 3,500 passengers is on it’s way back to Galveston. Having seen first hand how Norovirus goes through cruise ships, this makes me very nervous.
Why did these people even go on the cruise. Looks like they will likely die on the Cruise Liner as Belize syays no and how many others will succumb to the disease on a restricted vessel.
Yes, headline is wrong, and very alarming.
So... is she symptomatic or not?
Keep the ship out to sea for 50 days. Air drop food and medicines to the ship. Only then let the survivors ashore—in Washington DC.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.