French authorities lift lockdown on norovirus-hit cruise ship

A norovirus-hit cruise ship carrying mainly passengers from the UK and Ireland has had a French lockdown order lifted. All 1,701 people onboard Ambition were prevented from disembarking for more than 24 hours after it docked in Bordeaux on Tuesday, as one person died and dozens became ill with a vomiting virus. Local authorities allowed asymptomatic people to disembark from Wednesday afternoon, while those who had been infected were ordered to remain onboard in isolation. Norovirus is a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. The person who died was a 92-year-old British man who suffered a heart attack. His death appeared to be unrelated to the norovirus outbreak, health authorities said. Essex-based operator Ambassador Cruise Line said on Wednesday that 48 passengers and one crew member had “active cases of gastrointestinal illness”. There were a total of 1,187 passengers and 514 crew members onboard. Samples from those who were ill were tested at a local hospital in Bordeaux. One passenger, Seos Guilidhe, 52, from Belfast, told news agency AFP he was “playing bingo” during the lockdown, and “it is not as bad as it was during Covid”. He added that people were “going about as normal”. The ship set sail from Belfast on 8 May and called at Liverpool a day later, for a 14-night voyage to France and Spain. Cases of gastroenteritis rose after the embarkation of passengers in Liverpool. …