Cruise Liner with H1N1 Passengers Docks in Helsinki
The Emerald Princess in Helsinki harbour on Sunday June 28th.
Image: Joni Sironen
The Emerald Princess cruise liner docked again in Helsinki on Wednesday morning. Helsinki City health authorities have been notified that five people aboard the ship have contracted swine flu.
On Tuesday Helsinki City Epidemiologist Hannele Kotilainen said any passengers or crew members who are infectious will not be allowed ashore while the vessel is in Finland. All in all, ten people have been quarantined.
When the ship was last in Helsinki in late June, Finnish officials were not informed that there were several people on board at the time who had contracted swine flu.
The Bermuda-flag US-owned Emerald Princess was in Finland on June 28th before sailing on to St. Petersburg.
Cases of swine flu onboard the Emerald Princess had been confirmed by tests taken in Oslo four days earlier. The infections were reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control by Norwegian officials, but the information went unnoticed by Finnish authorities.
The captain of the vessel was under obligation to report the infections before entering Helsinki harbour.
YLE