MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Four Russian tourists, the Dmitrievs, who traveled on board the MS Westerdam cruise liner, can soon depart from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, back home since their coronavirus test results were negative.
"We’ve been just told that our results were negative," Alexei Dmitriev, head of the family, told TASS. The issue with booking tickets for departure back to Russia is expected to be sorted out shortly. "Better tomorrow. We still haven’t seen all the sights in the city," Dmitriev noted.
About 300-400 tourists from the liner had to stay in Cambodia for some more time because of a decision by local authorities to hold mandatory coronavirus tests for all the remaining passengers. Three other Russians traveling on board the liner have already returned to St. Petersburg.
The Westerdam cruise ship with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members sailed from Hong Kong on February 1 and was expected to call at several Japanese ports. These plans were canceled because of Japan’s objections out of fears that people who might have contracted the novel coronavirus could be aboard the ship. Subsequently, Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan also barred the ship from entering their ports. The vessel that had spent more than a week at sea trying to reach any Asian port was ultimately allowed to call at Cambodia’s Sihanoukville.