CDC advises people to avoid cruises, regardless of vaccination status

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CNBC’s Seema Mody reports on revised cruise guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday advised people against going on cruises regardless of their vaccination status after a recent surge in positive Covid cases onboard ships as the highly contagious omicron variant sweeps the world.

The CDC increased its travel warning for cruises to the highest level as the agency is investigating or observing dozens of ships that have had Covid outbreaks.

Cruise ships operating in U.S. waters reported about 5,000 Covid cases to the CDC between Dec. 15 – 29, a major spike compared with the first two weeks of the month when 162 cases were reported.

“It is especially important that travelers who are at an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide, regardless of vaccination status,” the agency said.

The CDC guidance is a new blow for an industry that was devastated during the first year of the pandemic. The stocks of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Carnival fell on the news.

The CDC warned that Covid transmits easily between people in close quarters on ships, and the chance of catching the virus on a cruise is very high even for people who are vaccinated and have received a booster dose.

The CDC advised people who decide to go on a cruise to get vaccinated before their trip and receive a booster dose if eligible. Facemasks should also be worn in shared spaces, and passengers who are not fully vaccinated should self-quarantine for five days after travel, according to the agency.

The CDC also said people who go on a cruise should get tested one to three days before departing, and three to five days after their trip, regardless of vaccination status or symptoms. However, many Americans shopping for at-home tests have found shelves in many pharmacies empty amid a nationwide shortage, and lines at clinics are sometimes hourslong.

Brian Salerno with the Cruise Lines International Association said the trade group was frustrated by the CDC’s decision.

“We’re obviously disappointed at the CDC’s decision to raise the travel level for cruise today—especially given the overwhelming level of effectiveness of cruise protocols that are resulting in significantly lower level of cases on cruise as compared to land,” said Salerno, senior vice president for maritime policy.

Anne Madison, a spokesperson for the industry group, said the Covid cases identified on cruise ships make up a slim majority of the total population onboard.

“The majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore,” Madison said.

Covid cases in the U.S. have surged to a pandemic high. The U.S. reported a seven-day average of more than 300,000 daily new Covid cases as of Wednesday, an increase of 82% from last week, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that omicron is driving the rapid increase in Covid cases.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said data out of South Africa and the United Kingdom, countries that were hit by omicron earlier, indicate that the variant is less severe than delta. However, Fauci urged against complacency, warning that omicron could still cause a spike in hospitalizations that burdens health-care systems simply by transmitting much faster.

About 82,000 Americans are hospitalized with Covid as of Thursday, according to a seven-day average of data from the Department of Health and Human Services, up 17% over the past week.

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40 Comments

  1. Cdc should advise people not to travel period! Why single out cruise ships? I personally think it’s saver to be on the cruise ship than anywhere else! At least I know all the passengers are vaccinated!

  2. You can't believe anything that our governments you're our government agencies tell us anymore they are controlled by the liberal left and paid for by the liberal-left even the FBI and the Department of Justice they're both corrupt and part of dumb dumb Joe Biden build back better plan he was going to give all of these news agencies that support the left and the bulshit news he was going to give them billions of dollars

  3. CDC targets Cruise industry – waiting for CDC to advise avoiding tax collection agencies, government can do without citizens paying taxes out of precaution.
    NEVER does CDC target government agencies, DMV or any non-essential tax / fee based collections from taxpayers do they ! LOST ALL TRUST IN CDC and JOURNALISTS !

  4. There was a time when CDC and State Department travel warnings were credible and Americans paid attention to them. Those warnings are the right approach, they need to drop the politics and mandates and let us make decisions for ourselves. Hope and pray for everyone to see the light and do the right things for everyone not just themselves. My opinion

  5. Got a question. So the vaccine is not a cure but a shot to prevent from getting it right. I know a family right now that have already been vaccinated a while back and they just got it can someone explain how?

  6. CDC can kiss by backside. The virus is not that bad today as it was 2 years ago. I think someone is trying to destroy this country more and more each day. When is the government going to stop the millions of illegals coming into this country.

  7. I think many cruisers are being exposed to Covid-19 on their flights to their cruises. No one is being tested or required to be vaccinated before they fly. Everyone who takes a cruise is required to be vaccinated and tested within 48 hrs before departure.

  8. The cruise industry is hideous for the environment, locations visited and Cree members, avoid them for these reasons

  9. Why always put your fingers to the cruise industry CDC?while leisure Parks airplanes and others are not pointed out..they are 100 percent in capacity while cruise ship just do 60-70percent occupancy..

  10. Disney Parks are open and full, Stores and schools are open and full. I'll be on a cruise next week wearing a mask and washing my hands like I have done all along.

  11. Airlines can fly full, football stadiums can be full of crazy no-mask wearing fans, Disney World and other theme parks can be full of no-mask wearing people, yet the CDC is picking on the cruise lines. There is no other industry where 98 percent of the people are vaccinated! You don't know whose sitting next to you in a football stadium or whether they are vaccinated, especially in Texas and in Florida. It makes absolutely no sense! This is the same CDC that just shortened the incubation period for vaccinated people, just said Omicron is not as serious as the Delta variant, just lowered the percentage of Omicron cases in the U.S. Really!!!

  12. We could always recommend people avoid what the CDC says since they are not exactly trustworthy at the moment. I will go with what my doc says as opposed to those turds.

  13. Of course they do because this idiot incompetent government won’t be happy until people are forever imprisoned in their homes over a virus that is never going away. NO THANK YOU!

  14. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I know the vaccines are working. I just received my fake vaccine card in the mail. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

  15. What? Vaccines, boosters, masks and social distancing aren't stopping a virus? Does that mean Fauci doesn't get his Christmas bonus?

  16. Read the article and typical hit piece on the cruise industry. The CDC's recommendations are the current protocols for the cruise industry, so this story is a big nothing burger.

  17. Hide in your basement forever! Permanent lockdowns! Guess what? You’re still gonna die. How long do you want us to act like hysterics over this?

Comments are closed.