Florida Resident Dies After Contracting Coronavirus Aboard Cruise Ship

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on April 26, 2020

Despite being financially impacted in a devastating way, other facets of the travel & tourism industry including airlines and hotels, were able to get an early grip on the COVID-19 outbreak without compromising the safety of their guests and patrons. The cruise ship industry appears to have not been so lucky. For the past few weeks, reports from previous passengers have been steadily flowing in to the media alleging gross negligence and mismanagement from the world’s largest cruise lines, including Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

It is almost impossible to know at this point just how many people have been infected with the novel coronavirus after vacationing on a cruise ship, and with no governing body officially recording this data, journalists with the Miami Herald decided to do a little digging of their own. According to the research provided by the Florida-based news outlet, approximately 2,592 travelers that had recently been aboard a cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19, with 65 documented fatalities.

After disembarking from numerous luxury liners owned by some of the industry’s biggest names, many of these people were shockingly allowed to fly home using commercial airports, unrestricted and unprotected, and thus potentially carried this deadly disease back to their communities all over the world. Florida resident Tom Sheehan, a 68-year-old passenger from the Costa Luminosa, a cruise ship at the center of many COVID-19 mismanagement allegations, fell severely ill one week after returning to his home in Bradenton. He would be dead just a few days later due to complications from the coronavirus.

As we continue to move through these uncharted waters, there will no doubt be additional allegations against major cruise lines in regards to their tendency to keep their eye on the almighty dollar and not passenger safety, which should always be their number one priority.

Here at the Law Offices of James O. Cunningham, P.A., we have been fighting for the rights of victims for over forty years. We are open and are offering free consultations. To schedule an appointment, please fill out our web form or call us directly at 877-FL-INJURY.

Sources:

• Go read this story on how COVID-19 took over cruise ships
• A Florida man dies days after hundreds of people exposed to coronavirus walked around the world’s busiest airport

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.