MS River Anuket explained

MS River Anuket (also known as Asara)^[1] is a River Anuket-class cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line.

On 6 March 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships, the Egyptian Health Ministry and World Health Organization confirmed 12 new cases of SARS-CoV-2.^[2] The infected persons were among the Egyptian staff aboard travelling from Aswan to Luxor.^[3] All those who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 did not show any symptoms of the disease. According to tests, the virus spread from a Taiwanese-American female tourist on the ship.^[4]

On 7 March, health authorities announced that 45 people on board had tested positive, and that the ship had been placed in quarantine at a dock in Luxor.^[3] On 9 March, the first international case from the cruise ship came after an American went home and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.^[5]

Notes and References

1. News: Sudarsan . Raghavan . Meryl . Kornfield . On the Nile, American tourists are among those quarantined on ship hit by coronavirus . Washington Post . 7 March 2020 .
2. News: Twelve asymptomatic coronavirus cases registered on Nile cruise ship. 6 March 2020. Reuters. 7 March 2020. en.
3. News: Egypt says cruise ship quarantined over new virus cluster . https://web.archive.org/web/20200308193805/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/uae-raises-virus-cases-to-45-new-cases-from-9-nationalities/2020/03/07/52affb1c-6035-11ea-ac50-18701e14e06d_story.html . dead . 8 March 2020 . Maggie . Michael . Samy . Magdy . . . 7 March 2020 .
4. News: Walsh . Declan . Rashwan . Nada . On Nile Cruiser, 12 Crew Test Positive for Virus, and Egypt Fears Broader Outbreak . 7 March 2020 . . 7 March 2020 . en-US . 0362-4331 .
5. News: The tale of a Nile cruise that spawned an international coronavirus outbreak . 13 March 2020 . Washington Post.