Havana, Cuba.- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez has confirmed on Monday that this country will receive the British cruise ship MS Braemar, with a small number of passengers infected with the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, after a request by the government of that European nation.

The decision responds to a health emergency in which there could be a risk to the lives of those sick people, the diplomat posted on his official Twitter account.

Along with British authorities, once the British travelers arrive in Cuba, they proceed to their safe and immediate return to the United Kingdom by air, Rodriguez said.

The foreign minister emphasized that the Cuban authorities will adopt sanitary measures established in the protocols of the World Health Organization and the country’s Ministry of Public Health.

The MS Braemar, belonging to the British company Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, was traveling through the Caribbean Sea with more than 1,000 passengers on board, five of them infected with the new coronavirus, the company said on Sunday.