SANTIAGO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships in the Chilean fjords in Patagonia have been placed in quarantine, after a British passenger tested positive for COVID-19, Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich said Saturday.

The 85-year-old Briton showed symptoms of the disease after disembarking from the Silver Explorer ship, which is now under quarantine off the port of Castro, Manalich told a press conference.

The patient was later hospitalized in the city of Coyhaique, and is currently "in good condition."

With around 1,065 people on board, the other affected ship, the Azmara Pursuit, has been quarantined near the port of Chacabuco, after it entered Chilean waters during a 21-day trip from Buenos Aires to Callao in Peru.

Chile has so far been in a stage of the COVID-19 outbreak where cases originate from both local patients and those carrying the virus from abroad.

"This means a more delicate situation from the epidemiological point of view in controlling the disease," Manalich said.  ■