LISBON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The last group of passengers on board the cruise ship "MSC Fantasia," stranded in Portugal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were repatriated to Brazil on Wednesday evening, Portuguese authorities said.
The group of people comprised 39 Brazilian passengers and 239 crew members, according to the Portuguese Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI).
The cruise ship from Brazil arrived in Lisbon early on Sunday with 1,338 passengers on board, mostly from the European Union, Britain, Brazil and Australia.
On Tuesday, 1,015 foreign citizens returned to their countries on four flights -- two flights to Germany, one to Brazil and one to Britain.
Another flight was made on Wednesday afternoon to Marseille, France, which carried 141 people including 61 crew members.
The operations were made in conjunction with several embassies from different countries, said the MAI.
The novel coronavirus has infected 2,995 people in Portugal as of Wednesday, 633 more than the previous day, and resulted in 43 deaths, according to the country's Directorate-General of Health.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declared a 15-day state of emergency on March 18 in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.
