Passengers of a virus-hit British cruise ship flew back to Britain on Wednesday evening from Jose Marti International Airport on the outskirts of the Cuban capital Havana.
The cruise ship MS Braemar, docking earlier Wednesday morning at the Port of Mariel, some 40 km south of Havana, carried 381 crew members and 682 passengers, including five confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The passengers transported to Britain on four charter flights operated by British Airways, and on arrival they will be obliged to self-isolate for 14 days, said the cruise ship's operator Fred Olsen on its website.
Ramon Armando Castillo, a senior official at the Cuban Ministry of Transportation, said the disembarkment was undertaken in accordance with international standards, adding it was a humanitarian operation involving highly-trained experts.
"It is a safe port. All security measures have been taken. The evacuation has respected the guidelines of the Cuban Ministry of Health concerning the novel coronavirus," he said.
British authorities and passengers of the cruise ship, which earlier had been turned away from Caribbean ports in Bahamas and Barbados over virus concerns, thanked Cuba for its supports.
"I am very grateful to the Cuban government for agreeing to carry out this operation," said British Ambassador to Cuba Antony Stokes.
"Thanks once more to the people of Cuba for their generosity and humanity. Hoping to come back here one day when we all have forgotten about COVID-19," passenger Steve Dale said on Twitter.
On Wednesday as the cruise ship docked in Cuba, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health confirmed a 61-year-old Italian tourist as the country's first death from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, two Cubans aged 25 and 67 residing in Santa Clara, a 77-year-old U.S. national and a 57-year-old Canadian national have also tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, according to Cuban state media on Wednesday, bringing the number of infections in the island country to 11.
The Cuban government announced cancellations of massive political gatherings, following the suspension of international sports events earlier this week, as preventive measures against the virus.
