Coimbatore, Mar 9 : Seventeen passengers from Tamil Nadu, part of 171 tourists on a cruise ship presently anchored in Nile river in Egypt, are quarantined after a few of them tested positive for Corona Virus-Covid-19.

The passengers were set for the tour on the ship ‘A Sara’ on February 27, organised by Salem tour operator Grand Royal Tours. As the ship docked in Nile near Luxor City in Egypt, all the passengers were screened and 45 persons, including 12 crew members were tested positive for Covic-19 and shifted to a hospital.

One passenger from Chennai was taken to a hospital in Alexandria on Saturday, following Covid-19 symptoms, relatives of a Coimbatore couple, who is aboard the ship said Considering the safety, all the other passengers will be quarantined for 14 days, the relatives said

The 62-year old Rangaraj and his wife Vanitha Rengaraj (60), the founder of Saranalayam, a children’s home, who were scheduled to return on March seven, were among those quarantined. The only problem being faced was the availability of food on time and and even nobody was allowed to come out their rooms, they said, adding
that the couple’s daughter had contacted the Indian Embassy in Egypt for doing the needful.

The passengers from Tamil Nadu, including the wife of the Chennai person hospitalised, are expecting immediate helping hands from Indian government to bring them back safely, as most of them have crossed the age of 50 years, they said.