Pair tell of cruise norovirus outbreak
A couple has told how they watched the highly-contagious norovirus bug sweep through stricken cruise ship The Marco Polo days before the death of a passenger when it set sail again.
David and Rita Jones, both aged 62, were among hundreds of passengers who fell ill on the boat last week as they sailed around the British Isles and Iceland.
But despite the widespread illness, the ship set sail once again and now at least 380 passengers have been struck down with the vomiting bug.
A 74-year-old man died while onboard, although it is not known if this was connected to the bug.
Mr and Mrs Jones are now back home in Ashtree Road, Pelsall, but said they were amazed the boat had continued. Mr Jones, who is retired from the building trade, said: "As time went on we noticed people becoming ill and especially at one stop in Iceland we were met by an ambulance and we did not know why at that time.
"As we went further on the people at our table of 10 began to disappear until there was only about four of us left. But all of this time we did not get any sort of directive from the captain that there was a problem."
He added: "As the cruise neared the end the virus really took hold and there were people vomiting on the floor just outside the dining room and the staff trying to mop it up, people were also confined to their cabins.
"I have never seen people so ill. All we wanted to do was get off the ship which we did at about 10.30am on Saturday back in London.
"The most disappointing part was that all of the officials knew what was happening and they loaded the ship up again and bombed off back to Scotland."
Despite suffering with the virus, Mr Jones managed to drive back home to Pelsall with his wife Rita. Once home Rita, who works at Walsall Civic Centre, began showing symptoms.
