Flight with passengers from coronavirus-infected cruise ship takes off for Australia

Passengers evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Australian liner Greg Mortimer board the medically equipped plane that will fly Australian and New Zealander nationals to Melbourne, at Carrasco International Airport early on April 11, 2020 . (File/AFP)

• Of 217 people aboard the Greg Mortimer liner, 128 had tested positive for new coronavirus and had been blocked from docking

MONTEVIDEO: More than 100 Australians and New Zealanders left Uruguay aboard a specially chartered flight after two weeks stranded aboard a virus-infected cruise ship, Montevideo’s Carrasco airport said in the early hours of Saturday.
Of 217 people aboard the Greg Mortimer liner, 128 had tested positive for new coronavirus and had been blocked from docking.
An agreement between the Uruguayan and Australian governments was made to create a “sanitary corridor” to take the mostly elderly tourists from Montevideo’s port to its international airport where they boarded a flight for Melbourne.