COVID-19 Clusters Cropping Up On Cruise Ships, CDC Investigating

Above, despite my best efforts, I still caught a cold on my cruise to Havana,
Cuba. Cruise ships ae essentially floating petri dishes. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

Floating petri dishes, a.k.a. cruise ships, are seeing clusters of COVID-19 infections in recent days.

This is all happening despite strict requirements of passengers of being vaccinated and having negative tests before boarding. In all actuality, having so many people (1,500+) on board a ship with limited areas is an invitation for sickness. 

According to TravelPulse:

With the highly-transmissible and possibly vaccine-resistant Omicron variant fueling a new wave of COVID-19 across the nation, infections are beginning to crop up on cruise ships. This, despite the fact that cruise companies’ policies require that all eligible passengers be fully vaccinated and test negative prior to boarding, and that all crew also be fully vaccinated.

Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises have all seen clusters of cases emerge aboard one or more of their vessels in recent days. While it’s suspected that Omicron is responsible for causing the breakthrough infections, it hasn’t been definitively identified.  

Because the cruise lines already have comprehensive protections in place, including vaccination and testing requirements, designed to avoid allowing COVID-19 onboard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun investigations into the sudden rash of cruise-ship cases.

To read more, go here. 

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