Thousands held on cruise ship amid Hong Kong Covid scare

Passengers and crew were sequestered on Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas for testing after nine people on board were identified as close contacts of a positive Covid case.

(CNN) — More than 3,000 passengers and crew were being held on a major cruise liner in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning after a Covid scare prompted authorities to order the ship to return to port.

Nine people on board Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas, which was on a "cruise to nowhere" around the South China Sea, were identified as close contacts of a positive Covid case.

The nine close contacts were sent to a government quarantine center after the ship returned to port on January 5, according to a Hong Kong government statement.