CDC lowers cruise-goers’ risk of Covid from ‘high’ to ‘moderate’ as industry plagued by travel restrictions a reduce in demand and hopes to recover
- The CDC no lists cruise ships as having ‘moderate’ risk from Covid, rather than ‘high’
- Now, the CDC recommends anyone that goes on a cruise to be fully vaccinated and boosted, compared to previous orders that advised against all cruise travel
- Cruise liners lost billions in revenue and had to lay off millions of workers when the industry was decimated by the pandemic in 2020
- With cases plummeting in the U.S., down 96% since Omicron’s peak, there is hope the industry can recover this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lowered the warned risk level of going on a cruise, now only issuing a ‘moderate’ warning.
The move comes as U.S. Covid cases continue to sharply decline, reaching some of the lowest points since the start of the pandemic.
Cruise ships and other vacation and hospitality based industries were decimated during the pandemic, as lockdowns and general fears of the virus from the population closed down business during the busy summer seasons.
Even before Covid, cruise ships were long known as a hotbed for the spread of infectious diseases, making many officials believe they were an especially large danger during the pandemic.
The CDC has lowered its listed risk level of going on a cruise from ‘high’ to ‘moderate’, now just reccomending only people who are not fully vaccinated and boosted don’t go on the ships. Pictured: A cruise ship passes by Long Beach, California
Under the ‘moderate’ risk level, the CDC still recommends that only people who are fully vaccinated against Covid and have received a booster shot attend a cruise.
The agency moved from a ‘very high’ to ‘high’ risk level at the end of last year.
Under the ‘high’ risk level, the CDC was encouraging all Americans against going on cruises, believing they were too much of a risk during the Omicron surge.
The surge has since ended, with cases rapidly declining in recent weeks. America is currently averaging 31,108 cases per day, the lowest daily total since last July and one of the lowest figures of the pandemic so far.
Cases are down 21 percent over the past seven days, and 96 percent since the Omicron variant’s mid-January peak.
Current rules issued by the CDC are much more lenient heading into this cruise season than they were last year.
In 2021, the CDC only allowed for cruises to return to operation as long as verified at least 95 percent of passengers were vaccinated.
Cruise liners could avoid the vaccine requirement if they performed a successful test run to show officials they have proper safety measures in place to operate with unvaccinated passengers.
These rules set off a long running conflict between the agency, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and some major cruise liners as the governor’s ban on vaccine mandates made it hard for the companies to return to operations.
The CDC has since dropped its strictest of orders for cruises to resume operations, but until this week was still warning against going out to sea on the crowded ships.
Cruise liners were hammered during the pandemic, with billions in revenue lost and million of workers left unemployed.
Even ships that were able to operate last summer had trouble selling tickets as people stayed home in fear of the virus.
Last summer’s Delta variant fueled surge did not help matters either, as just as it seemed the pandemic was receding in time for travel season, another surge began.
Even before the pandemic, the CDC warned that cruise ships are often vector for diseases like the norovirus due to cramped and often unsanitary conditions out at sea.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk