Cruise Ship Passenger in Quarantine:UPDATE

Carnival Cruise Lines issued the following statement after a female passenger on board Carnival Magic was discovered to have possibly been exposed to Ebola during her routine duties at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital where a patient died of the deadly disease.

Carnival Statement

"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."

Carnival Magic departed from Galveston Texas on Sunday, October 12, called at Mahogany Bay, Honduras on Wednesday October 15 and arrived off the coast of Belize on Thursday October 16 where, in an abundance of caution, the island's government refused to allow the passenger and her traveling companion to go ashore. The Belizean government issued this statement in a press release:

"The government of Belize reassures the public that the passenger never set foot in Belize and while we remain in close contact with U.S. officials we have maintained the position that when even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and safety of the Belizean people."

In addition, the Government of Belize decided "not to facilitate a U.S. request for assistance in evacuating the passenger through the Phillip Goldson International Airport."

UPDATE from Carnival Cruise Lines:
The Carnival Magic, which was waiting off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico this morning to dock there for a scheduled port visit, had not received clearance from Mexican authorities to do so by 12 noon eastern time today and therefore the decision was made to proceed to Galveston to ensure the ship arrives there on time on Sunday morning.

We greatly regret that this situation, which was completely beyond our control, precluded the ship from making its scheduled visit to Cozumel and the resulting disappointment it has caused our guests. The Texas healthcare worker on board continues to show no symptoms of illness and poses no risk to the guests or crew on board. The individual remains in voluntary isolation.

Guests on the ship are being provided a $200 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 50 percent discount on a future cruise based on the missed visit to Cozumel.