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| - South Africa on Wednesday imposed a blanket ban on cruise ships entering its ports, its latest step to curb the spread of coronavirus, a minister said Wednesday. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula spoke as more than 1,700 people were stranded on a ship off the coast of Cape Town owing to fears that some might be carrying the virus. "With effect from today, no cruise ships will be permitted to call into South African ports or will any be allowed to leave our shores," Mbalula told a news conference in Cape Town. Unveiling new regulations, Mbalula also declared that "no passenger vessels will be allowed in our ports. "In essence, there is a total ban on cruise ships. This affects all leisure travellers," he said as South Africa's coronavirus tally surpassed 100 confirmed cases on Wednesday. Transnet, South Africa's maritime authority on Tuesday said it "held off port limits" the Italian-flagged cruise liner AIDAmira which had sailed to Cape Town on Sunday from neighbouring Namibia. Mbalula said six other passenger vessels were making their way towards South Africa as the new law took effect. Last month, the cruise ship Diamond Princess was quarantined off the coast of Japan and more than 700 people of the 3,700 passengers and crew on board tested positive for COVID-19. South Africa has so far recorded 116 positive cases, the most in sub-Saharan Africa. str-sn/wai
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