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American cruise ship passenger transferred to Cancun hospital for intestinal obstruction and Covid-19

Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — An American cruise ship passenger was transferred to a Cancun hospital Tuesday for medical treatment. Medical personnel from the Navy of Mexico made the emergency transfer after the ship made the request for assistance.

Early Tuesday morning, cruise ship personnel helped to transfer a 58-year-old American passenger to a waiting Navy vessel for a water transfer to land. The man was taken to a Cancun hospital after presenting symptoms of intestinal obstruction and for also testing positive for Covid-19, conditions impossible to treat on board.

In a press release, the Navy reported “during the early hours of Tuesday, personnel belonging to the Ninth Naval Region carried out the emergency medical evacuation of a 58-year-old man of American nationality who was traveling aboard a tourist cruise ship approximately three nautical miles (5.5 kilometers) northeast of Isla Mujeres.

“In the Command and Control Room of the Ninth Naval Region, a call for help was received requesting support for the transfer of the passenger, who presented symptoms of intestinal obstruction in addition to testing positive for Covid-19.

“In response to the emergency, a Defender type vessel set sail from the Naval Search, Rescue and Maritime Surveillance Station (ENSAR) Isla Mujeres, with specialized rescue and health personnel, who upon arriving at the emergency point, medically reviewed and evacuated the tourist, who was transferred to Puerto Juárez, where an ambulance was waiting to transfer the patient to a local hospital, in order to receive specialized medical care.”