Family members of sick passengers still stuck onboard the Coral Princess at PortMiami Sunday say their loved ones urgently need hospital care as their health deteriorates.
The death of a passenger who was left out of the ship’s initial emergency evacuation of critical-ill people Saturday prompted more aggressive action Sunday, according to county representatives. Miami-Dade’s Jackson hospital system sent a team to assess severely ill Princess passengers, and county paramedics were dispatched to the port to assist, said Myriam Marquez, communications director for Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
“The mayor has been very clear. We want to help as much as we can,” Marquez said. “But we also don’t want to overwhelm the system.”
Shortly after 4:00 p.m. county ambulances and fire trucks were seen outside the Coral Princess. The director of the port, Juan Kuryla, stood by on the phone. The efforts upended Miami-Dade’s plan for a stable situation on the Carnival Corporation-owned ship after allowing the vessel to dock at Port Miami Saturday and clearing out people deemed critically ill. The plan was for healthy passengers to leave Sunday, but for dozens of sick crew and passengers to remain aboard under quarantine and be treated by the ship’s medical crew.
