Cruise ship carrying worker exposed to Ebola not allowed into Mexico

CROATIA, DUBROVNIK - MAY 03: In this handout provided by Carnival Cruise Lines, the new Carnival Magic is seen departing from port, after a nine-day inaugural cruise, May 3, 2011 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The ship accommodates 3,690 passengers and was built in Italy at a cost of $800 million. Owned by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines, the vessel is to be repositioned in November to Galveston, Texas, for year-round seven-day Caribbean cruises. (Photo by Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines via Getty Images) (2011 Carnival Cruise Lines)

A Carnival cruise ship with a Dallas health-care worker who possibly handled lab specimens and other biological material from Ebola-victim, Thomas Eric Duncan, wasn’t authorized to dock by authorities in the Mexican resort of Cozumel, the Washington Post is reporting.

Citing a Carnival company spokesperson, the newspaper is reporting that the Carnival Magic is returning to the U.S. It had been waiting off the Yucatan coast for a scheduled port visit, but when the docking approval hadn’t arrived by Friday noon, the ship returned to Galveston, Texas. It is due to arrive on Sunday.

The lab supervisor at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, whose name has not been released, has reportedly shown no signs of Ebola but is being kept in voluntary isolation, along with her partner.

A statement issued by the company said, “We greatly regret that this situation, which was completely beyond our control, precluded the ship from making its scheduled visit to Cozumel and the resulting disappointment it has caused our guests.”

A statement issued by the U.S. State Department pointed out that at the time the lab worker boarded the Magic on Oct. 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was calling for self-monitoring only, including taking your temperature every day.

It has now been 19 days since the worker handled Duncan’s lab material. The incubation period for the disease is 21 days.

The Carnival Magic’s previous port-of-call was Belize on Thursday. Neither the lab supervisor nor her partner got off the boat there.

The cruise line will give guests aboard the ship a credit of $200 and a half-off  discount on another cruise.