A cruise line is working with governments and health experts to track passengers who disembarked from a ship docked in Cambodia after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus.
The American woman was confirmed to have contracted the deadly disease following tests in Malaysia after traveling on the Holland America Line-owned Westerdam cruise ship.
The cruise line, which is owned by cruise giant Carnival Corp, said none of the other 1,454 passengers and 802 crew have reported any symptoms.
"Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and be provided further information," a statement from the company said.
Passengers had been cleared to travel by Cambodian authorities after health checks when the cruise ship docked on Thursday.
It had spent two weeks at sea after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand.
But on Saturday, Malaysia said an American woman who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Friday on a chartered flight had tested positive for the new coronavirus that has killed more than 1,700 people - mostly in China.
The woman's husband tested negative for the flu-like virus.
About 137 of the 145 passengers on the chartered flight had already left for other countries as of yesterday after showing no signs of illness, Malaysian authorities said.
Dozens more of the Westerdam passengers had flown through Thailand and onward to other countries, Thai officials said.
At least 236 passengers and 747 crew remain aboard the vessel off the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, Holland America said.
Others were in hotels in Phnom Penh, the capital.
Holland America said it is working with health officials in Malaysia and Cambodia and experts in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
"These experts are working with the appropriate national health authorities to investigate and follow-up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest," said Dr Grant Tarling, Chief Medical Officer for Holland America Line.
Several hundred other passengers who left the ship are still in Cambodia, according to passenger Holley Rauen, a public health nurse and midwife from Fort Myers, Florida.
"I believe there's 300 Americans here at this hotel plus a few hundred from other countries. We will all be tested for the coronavirus today and tomorrow by the Cambodian Ministry of Health," Rauen told Reuters on Sunday.
"We have no idea when we get to get home but Holland America is working on all of our flight reservations. We have ambassadors from the U.S. Embassy here in Phnom Penh as well as from Australia and other countries to help people figure out what to do," she said.
The coronavirus death toll in mainland China reached 1,770 on Sunday, up by 105 from the previous day, the country's National Health Commission has said.
Across mainland China, there were 2,048 new confirmed infections on Sunday. The total accumulated number so far has reached 70,548.
The latest rise in the number of reported new cases of coronavirus in Hubei after two days of falls, comes as authorities imposed tough new restrictions on movement to prevent the spread of the disease.
Westerdam passengers flung up their arms in joy after finally disembarking over the weekend following two weeks stranded onboard, with the ship initially declared free of coronvirus despite 20 people falling ill.
But the misery continued for a British family and others from the US vessel, which had been stuck for two weeks in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Their flights were suddenly cancelled when an 83-year-old American fell ill on a flight and tested positive for the virus. It meant those still in Cambodia faced going back to quarantine.
Lorraine Oliveira, husband Carlos and their children Jonathan, 16, and Aoife nine, from the Wirral, Merseyside, found themselves trapped.
Psychotherapist Lorraine, 47, said: “Loads of passengers were waiting for their flight confirmations when the captain made an announcement.
“We have no idea when we will get home or whether we’ll be quarantined.
“Everyone is really anxious. It’s scary to think so many people are passing through airports on their way home.”
Nine people in Britain are known to have contracted the illness but eight of those have since been discharged.
