Two passengers who share a room on a Caribbean cruise ship tested positive for Covid-19 this week and triggered security measures that allowed about 600 other passengers to continue to eat and play on the ship / p> Cruise lines are preparing to resume voyages in the US – their main market – from the end of this month after breaking more than a year of hiatus in the country. They hope to show they have protocols in place to treat Covid cases and allow the cruise to continue, unlike some high-profile outbreaks last year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention require cruise lines to make arrangements with ports so as not to incriminate local authorities in the event of a positive Covid-19 case, but do not require that the cruise be stopped unless there is a major outbreak.
The positive cases on the Celebrity Millennium ship operated by
Royal Caribbean Group,
RCL -0.60%
were discovered after nearly all passengers presented vaccination records and a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of embarkation from St Maarten Island last week. The few people who did not provide proof of vaccination were children.
The passengers who tested positive were asymptomatic and isolated, the cruise company said. The seven-day cruise, which operates at a capacity of 30%, is the first cruise in North America since coronavirus cases on board brought shipping to a standstill last year.
The cases show that a cruise is during a pandemic – even with vaccinated passengers and crew – still poses risks that cruise managers have admitted. At the same time, cruise lines have stated that detecting positive cases on board suggests that their health and safety protocols are working.
All passengers on the ship did a rapid antigen test, and when the two tests were positive, the shipping company tested the two people and their close contacts with a polymerase chain reaction test, according to Royal Caribbean spokesman Jonathon Fishman. He said the two passengersâ ???? close contacts have all tested negative and that the detection of the cases does not affect the future trips of the company.
The passengers have resumed their cruise as planned, according to the company and the passengers. John Roberts, a travel writer, said passengers around him had generally been calm since the captain announced the positive cases.
« The casinos are full, with people sitting in the lounges having drinks after dinner Enjoyed at the bar, the dinner locations had people eating there, ”said Mr Roberts in an interview. « People continued the cruise as usual. » Vaccinated people can still spread the coronavirus, although the risk of transmission is lower due to their potentially lower viral load, said Marcus Pereira, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
« It at least suggests that the amount of virus circulating in their bodies is low enough not to cause severe symptoms. » Pereira said of the two passengers who tested positive.
The CDC still rates the risk of traveling on a cruise ship as « very high ». They say the virus seems to spread more easily among people in confined spaces on ships. However, the agency has agreed to resume several ships with new guidelines or recommendations such as passenger tests and capacity limits.
The response to the positive Covid-19 cases contrasts with voyages at the start of the pandemic, which is pending an outbreak Board included
Carnival Corp.â ?? s
Diamond Princess in Japan in February 2020, when more than 700 passengers and crew members tested positive for the virus and several people died.
In the weeks that followed, passengers and crew on Covid-affected ships were stuck on board as the operators struggled to find a port to disembark. In December 2020, a false positive test brought the Quantum of the Seas from Royal Caribbean to a “cruise to nowhere”. Travel in Singapore with an early stop.
Cruise operators have worked hard to regain public trust.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
The flagship line has committed to covering necessary treatments related to Covid, land quarantine and home flights in the event a passenger tests positive on board. Mr. Fishman said Royal Caribbean will pay for the two Celebrity Millennium passengers ” Charter flights back to the USA to the USA
The restart of the US cruise follows a framework that the CDC has imposed on operators since October 2020. To be able to sail, cruise lines must either conduct test drives or confirm that 98% of the crew and 95% of the passengers are fully vaccinated.
There have already been signs of tension in the companiesâ ???? Dealing with local authorities. The state of Florida, a major cruise hub, has prevented companies from requiring customers to submit documents certifying Covid-19 vaccination certification.
Royal Caribbean has moved from mandatory vaccination to recommendation for upcoming Florida cruises switched, although still required for Alaskan travel Norwegian, which requires all passengers and crew to be fully vaccinated before boarding a ship, can easily move the ships and operate elsewhere if necessary, Chief Executive
Frank Del Rio
said on a recent conference call.
The Celebrity Millennium kicks off June 12 from St. Maarten on a new seven-day trip to the Caribbean.
Appeared in the print edition of June 12, 2021 as « Positive Tests Donâ ?? t Spell End to Cruise ».
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