Carnival says 27 passengers onboard one of its cruise ships tested positive for COVID-19

• Twenty-seven people travelling on a Carnival cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19.
• One passenger and 26 crew members were among the positive cases, the company told CNN.
• The cruise line has implemented additional protocols aboard the voyage following the breakout.

Carnival Cruise Lines said 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 onboard the Carnival Vista cruise ship sailing from Galveston, Texas, to Belize, according to a Belize Tourism Board press release.

The positive cases included 26 crew members and one passenger on the ship, which was carrying more than 4,000 people. All those infected were vaccinated, according to the release.

Most had very mild symptoms or no symptoms and were in isolation, it added.

Everyone on the ship was notified of the positive tests, according to the board. The guests who tested positive did not pose a threat to the other guests, crew, or frontline workers in Belize, it added.

Following the tests, Carnival upgraded protocols aboard the ship, including increased mask-wearing indoors, the use of N95 masks by the crew, and closing of crew social areas.

"The health, safety and wellbeing of our guests, crew and the destinations we visit is our priority. All activities on the ship are taking place and our guests have been terrific at adapting to our new protocols," Carnival said in a statement on Friday as reported by CNN.

It added that it was managing "a small number of positive COVID cases," but did not say an exact number.

AP reported that the company said in a statement: "We have managed the situation utilizing stringent health protocols which included placing those who tested positive in isolation and close contacts in quarantine."

The company said it had notified all passengers on the current trip and the prior one. It said Belize health officials had randomly tested 68 Vista passengers as they disembarked and all were negative, per the statement.

Carnival did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

On Carnival ships, guests are required to be fully vaccinated, though there are exemptions for children and people with medical issues.

Carnival Vista isn't the first cruise to see positive COVID-19 cases. On July 30, six guests - four of whom were vaccinated - tested positive onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise in the Bahamas.

On an American Cruise Lines cruise in Alaska, two guests and one crew member test positive on July 12.