False positive coronavirus case aboard ‘cruise to nowhere’ in Singapore

A suspected COVID-19 case aboard a “cruise to nowhere” from Singapore was a false alarm, the nation’s Government has said.

On Wednesday, nearly 1,700 passengers on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas ship were held in their cabins for more than 16 hours after an 83-year-old passenger tested positive for COVID-19.

The man had sought medical help for diarrhoea when he was tested.

But Singapore’s health ministry said the man did not have the virus after three subsequent tests on land came back negative.

While authorities praised the response to the incident,…