Good, Buchanan urge officials to help COVID-19 cruise passengers. Four live in Sarasota
State Rep. Margaret Good is calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to assist two cruise ships dealing with suspected outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, whom Good is challenging for a seat in Congress, similarly called on officials to assist the Floridians on the two ships.
The Zaandam cruise ship, which was originally slated to end its two-week voyage in Chile last week, was turned away from the country on March 21. Nearly 150 passengers are suffering from flu-like symptoms and four of them have died, according to a release from Holland America, which is owned by the Miami-based Carnival Corp.
Now, four Sarasota residents are caught in the middle of the crisis, Good, D-Sarasota, said in a prepared statement Monday afternoon, urging DeSantis to assist the passengers.
Of the 1,243 passengers involved, 49 of them are Floridians. A second ship, the Rotterdam, was used over the weekend to transfer 800 symptom-free passengers from the Zaandam. There are a total of 304 U.S. citizens on the cruise ships, the Miami Herald reports.
“There are hundreds of people aboard the Zaandam and Rotterdam who are in danger of contracting COVID-19 and many on the Zaandam who are already gravely ill. These people need our help,” Good said.
“During times of crisis, Americans rise to the challenge and help others in need; we do not turn our backs. I call on the governor to intervene immediately and ensure these passengers are able to disembark,” she added.
Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, also weighed in on the situation in a tweet posted Monday evening. The Florida residents should be able to dock in the state and come back to their homes, he argued.
“We take care of our people,” he wrote.
In an interview with the Bradenton Herald, Buchanan said he was primarily focused on taking care of the 49 Floridians trapped on both ships.
“My focus is primarily on Florida, especially the four in our region and in Sarasota, but we’re going to do everything we can,” said Buchanan, who suggested that the White House and the State Department would help place the other U.S. citizens and passengers. “The others, we can look where they’re from and see what’s appropriate.”
On Monday morning, DeSantis told Fox News that he didn’t want those passengers “dumped” in the state.
“We cannot afford to have people who are not even Floridians dumped into South Florida, using up those valuable resources,” he said. “We view this as a big, big problem, and we do not want to see people dumped in Southern Florida right now.”
Both the Zaandam and the Rotterdam crossed the Panama Canal Monday morning and are expected to reach Florida’s coast by Wednesday. DeSantis said the White House is involved in the discussion and should provide guidance soon.
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 4:09 PM.
