The CDC has warned US passengers against all cruise travel due to a surge in Covid infections on ships.
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The CDC is investigating 86 cruise ships.
The CDC invests in 86 cruise-ships.
The CDC director said this week that there has been a 30-fold increase in Covid cases. Every one of the nearly 100 cruise ships currently carrying passengers in US waters has reported enough Covid-19 cases to merit investigation by the CDC, according to the agency's website.
Passengers were stuck on ships that couldn't dock because foreign ports wouldn't let them in because they tested positive for Covid, and they had to face long onboard quark before being allowed to come home. Dozens of cruises have been canceled and some ports in the Caribbean and South America are not allowing ships to visit daily.
Janet Silver Ghent, a Palo Alto retiree and editor, was stuck on a South America cruise for eight days when the ports refused to let passengers disembark because of Covid cases.
The CDC advised the public to avoid cruise ship travel even if they were shot. The number of infections reported on cruise ships jumped to 5,013 between 15 and 29 December, up from only 162 in the first two weeks of the month, according to the agency.
The CDC did not respond to requests for updated case counts, despite the fact that the numbers have continued to increase, according to Dr Rochelle Walensky.
Over the last two weeks, we have seen a 30 fold increase in cases on ships.
They were stuck on their South American cruise. Jane Silver Ghent provided the photo.
Six months after the cruise industry came back after being shut down for more than a year due to the Pandemic, there are new problems. There have been no reports of serious illness or death in the latest surge, unlike the outbreak that rattled the global cruise industry early in the epidemic. Most cruise companies require passengers to be tested before they set sail, which may help to limit the severity of an outbreak.
Royal Caribbean Group's chief medical officer Dr Calvin Johnson said in a statement last month that the case count has spiked, but the severity is milder.
The company reported that since cruising resumed in the US in June 2021, only 1,745 of its 1.1 million guests have tested positive. Only 41 people needed to be hospitalized.
The case surge is causing headaches for cruise operators. James Walker, a Florida maritime attorney, said that thousands of cruise ship crew members have tested positive and that many are quarantining on out-of-service ships.
Walker thinks that cruise lines should stop operations until after the Omicron surge because of staffing problems. The service isn't there for people who pay to go on a cruise.
We were willing to take risks.
Many holiday passengers were already aboard and seeing their dream cruises disrupted by Omicron when the CDC issued its warning against cruise ship travel on 30 December. Some people have decided to try and make the best of it.
The crew and passengers of the small sailing ship, theMSY Wind Surf, had to be taken off the ship after 48 of them tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu. He and his wife and many other passengers were told they couldn't fly home until they received a negative test result.
The tests were still positive despite no symptoms. The psychologist and author was stuck on the ship for 12 extra days and made the best of it, eating complimentary room service meals, taking pictures of beautiful sunsets, and working on his new book.
He and his wife were able to enjoy the ship's spa pool alone, where he joked he wanted to order up a quarantini.
After testing positive for Covid, the Williams' were stuck on their cruise ship for an extra 12 days. The photo was taken by Brett Williams.
Williams described the trip as awesome despite the disruptions. We were willing to take risks.
Even though their ship, the Viking Jupiter, spent so much time at sea, they were able to enjoy their trip even though the entertainers used up all their routines in the first few days.
All passengers were required to take a spit PCR test every day. She said she never wanted to spit again.
The passengers were taken off the ship for being exposed. Liev Schreiber, an actor, went to post videos from his hotel in Chile, which he dubbed DJ Covid, and he tapped out beats on a synthesiser.
Podell ate a lot of sushi and spent a lot of time singing in the Explorer Lounge on the Viking ship. While the boat was never able to dock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Podell enjoyed belting out renditions of John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads and made up his own version of Evita song: Don't Make Me Cry.
They were supposed to spend one day in Uruguay, but ended up spending five. The passengers were taken back to Miami on a plane. The couple missed their connecting flight and lost their luggage, but they kept their sense of humor.
Podell said that nobody would feel sorry for them.
The cruise industry has lost a lot of money since the start of the Pandemic.
Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean, said in a statement that everyone aboard the cruise ship is protected from Omicron and that it is one of the safest places to vacation. Observers see this as a major step towards Covid-19 becoming endemic.
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