The Panama Canal Authority said Sunday that two cruise ships carrying more than 1,800 passengers and crew — some infected with COVID-19 — stranded off the Central American country and hoping to reach port in Florida had begun the process of transiting the canal. While Panamanian officials said they would let the two ships transit the Panama Canal, the cruise company said it had not been given official permission and Fort Lauderdale’s mayor said he didn’t want it to dock near his city as planned, at least without extensive precautions. Panama’s Health Ministry announced Saturday that it would allow the Zaandam, which has been at sea since leaving Argentina March 7, to transit the canal, though no passengers or crew would be allowed to disembark.
