--- title: New Jersey: Cruise Ship Passengers Tested For Coronavirus description: Twenty-seven Chinese nationals have been screened for coronavirus after disembarking a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Bayonne, New Jersey canonical: https://time.com/5779803/coronavirus-new-jersey-cruise/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-07T18:35:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:50:49.197Z article:section: Health og:title: New Jersey: Cruise Ship Passengers Tested For Coronavirus og:description: Twenty-seven Chinese nationals have been screened for coronavirus after disembarking a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Bayonne, New Jersey og:url: https://time.com/5779803/coronavirus-new-jersey-cruise/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc07abab6df624e52/698a09ea4ee2627eea3170c5/coronavirus-cruise.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Anthem of the Seas Cruise Ship Arrives in Port og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Jersey: Cruise Ship Passengers Tested For Coronavirus twitter:description: Twenty-seven Chinese nationals have been screened for coronavirus after disembarking a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Bayonne, New Jersey twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc07abab6df624e52/698a09ea4ee2627eea3170c5/coronavirus-cruise.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Passengers Scanned For Coronavirus on Cruise Ship in Bayonne, New Jersey > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=d8a280bf-89c7-44db-967a-08fb30bd130d&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/) and [Josiah Bates](https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/) Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace. Feb 7, 2020 6:35 PM UTC  Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Anthem of the Seas cruise ship arrives at its port in Bayonne, New Jersey at sunrise on June 22, 2019 Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Anthem of the Seas cruise ship arrives at its port in Bayonne, New Jersey at sunrise on June 22, 2019 Corbis via Getty Images—2019 Gary Hershorn by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/) and [Josiah Bates](https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/) Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace. Feb 7, 2020 6:35 PM UTC 27 Chinese nationals have been screened for [coronavirus](https://time.com/5778994/coronavirus-china-country-future/) on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Bayonne, New Jersey, on Friday, according to the New Jersey Governor’s office. No cases of the virus have been confirmed. Of the 27 passengers who were screened, four are being kept under observation at a New Jersey hospital. At least two passengers were taken off the ship on stretchers after it docked on Friday morning. Ambulances were waiting nearby. Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis tweeted that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) officials advised him that this is a “Below Low Risk” situation and that all the other passengers were released without any issue. > [](https://twitter.com/DavisForBayonne/status/1225781203695030272) The _Anthem of the Seas_ ship, which set sail from Bayonne in late January, was until Friday just one of at least [three cruise ships globally](https://time.com/5778937/coronavirus-cruise-japan-quarantine/) where passengers had been quarantined amid fears of onboard outbreaks of the disease, which can spread between humans. The coronavirus, known as 2019-ncov, is thought to have originated in the [Chinese city of Wuhan](https://time.com/5774366/how-coronavirus-spread-china/) in late December. On Wednesday, the number of cases in the U.S. rose to 12\. Worldwide, there are at least 31,000 cases — but there are fears the number could be far higher. The global death toll stands at 638, mostly from China. In a statement, Royal Caribbean said it was “closely monitoring developments regarding coronavirus and have rigorous medical protocols in place onboard our ships,” NBC [reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/royal-caribbean-cruise-passengers-n-j-screened-coronavirus-4-taken-n1132266?cid=sm%5Fnpd%5Fnn%5Ftw%5Fma). The cruise line will also begin screening guests more strictly, it said. “New Jersey currently has no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and the risk to residents remains low,” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement. 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