2 guests on Celebrity Millennium cruise ship test positive for COVID-19

Two guests on the Celebrity Millennium ship tested positive for COVID-19, Celebrity Cruises said Thursday.

The ship set sail from St. Maarten on Saturday for a 7-day cruise with stops in Barbados, Aruba, and Curacao. Before boarding, guests were required to show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours. All guests had to be tested again for COVID-19 at the end of the cruise, and the two passengers who tested positive shared a stateroom on the ship. They are both asymptomatic, Celebrity Cruises said, and are being monitored by a medical team.

This was the first major cruise ship to sail with American passengers since the pandemic shut down the industry, CNN reports. Celebrity said it is now conducting contact tracing and expediting additional COVID-19 testing. "This situation demonstrates that our rigorous health and safety protocols work to protect our crew, guests, and the communities we visit," Celebrity Cruises said in a statement.

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There are 500 passengers on the Celebrity Millennium, CNN reports, and all of the crew is vaccinated. Child passengers who are unable to get the vaccine had to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding.