New CDC Warning: Avoid Cruise Ship Travel, Regardless Of Covid-19 Vaccination Status – Forbes

The Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas (L), pictured here in Miami, Florida, is one of the 91 ships ... [+] that have had reported cases of Covid-19 and have met the threshold for CDC investigation. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Oh, ship. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a new warning about cruise ships: Avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status. Thats because the Winter Covid-19 surge, brought to you in part by the Omicron variant, has been hitting many parts of the U.S. both on land and sea. And the Covid-19 coronavirus has been hitting boats, boats, boats this month.

Before you say, but Im vaccinated, therefore I can do whatever I want, remember the Covid-19 vaccines arent like full-body concrete condoms. While they can offer you good protection, vaccination does not equal 100% protection. The CDC warns that Even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covis-19 variants.

Nevertheless, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the world's largest cruise industry trade association, described the CDC decision as particularly perplexing and disagreed with the decision as the following tweet showed:

Its true that cruise ships arent the only place at risk now for Covid-19 outbreaks. Any type of crowd gathering could be problematic. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) isnt particularly susceptible to pier pressure, so to speak. It can go anywhere where there may be many people in an indoor location.

The new CDC warning shouldnt come as a surprise, though, if youve checked whos on the CDCs ship list: the CDCs Cruise Ship Guidance list. This list consists of cruises that operate in U.S. waters and dont begin with the name Tom. It includes the company operating the cruise ship, the name of the cruise line, the name of the ship, the current voyage type, the ship status when it comes to Covid-19, and any CDC Covid-19-related actions. As of December 30, there are a-boat 90 ships that have had reported Covid-19 cases and have met thethreshold for CDC investigation. Thats a boatload of ships.

The CDC uses a color scheme to indicate what the ship is going on when it comes to Covid-19. Green means that the ship has had no reported Covid-19 cases. Only 16 of the ships on the list are in the green today and 15 of these have been having only crew members and no passengers.

Orange means that there have been some reported Covid-19 cases but not enough to merit a CDC investigation. Three of the ships on the list currently are in the orange with all three being crew-only ships.

Thats left 91 cruise ships in the yellow. A ship is in the yellow if Covid-19 has been reported in at least 0.10% of the passengers or at least one crew member. These thresholds go up to at least 1.5% of passengers or 1.0% of the crew for simulated voyages that are meant as test runs with volunteer passengers and at least 1.0% of the crew for crew-only ships. A cruise line can also meet the CDC investigation threshold when it doesnt get its ship together and fails to submit a daily Enhanced Data Collection (EDC) During COVID-19 Pandemic Form. The EDC Form should include reports of confirmed Covid-19 and any Covid-19-like illnesses. And cruise lines cant use the excuse that the dog ate their form or that they werent aware of the requirement, since the CDC sends weekly email reminders and follow-up emails if the form isnt submitted by 12 noon ET. Dogs typically dont eat emails unless they end up eating your computer.

There is one color worse than yellow on the list. And thats red. A ship would be in the red if it had sustained transmission of Covid-19 or Covid-19-like illness (CLI) or the potential for Covid-19 cases to overwhelm on board medical center resources. That obviously would be a bad situation. Come sail the ocean, where the ships medical center resources may be overwhelmed would not be a good slogan. It certainly would not be as good as I like big boats and I cannot lie. Currently, though, the red seems to be a no ship situation.

Nonetheless, the ships seem to be flowing downhill. Having 91 in the yellow now is more than the 86 that were in the yellow just two days ago:

This is clearly not the best time to go on a cruise as David Lazarus a consumer columnist for the Los Angeles Times and KTLA Channel 5 suggested:

Recall the Covid-19 ship show that occurred early in 2020. According to the CDC, the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting Covid-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you are fully vaccinated and have received a Covid-19 vaccine booster dose. The indoor areas on cruise ships can be rather cramped and not very well-ventilated. And it can be difficult to stay outdoors throughout a cruise unless your cruise happens to be on a raft. Again while vaccination can offer good protection, it is important to layer on other Covid-19 precautions such as face mask use and social distancing as much as you can.

Testing by no means is a replacement for these other Covid-19 precautions even if you are testing yourself every hour and carrying a striking number of cotton swabs. Testing negative doesnt necessarily rule out being infected since all SARS-CoV-2 tests can have false negatives. Plus, you could always turn infectious sometime after being tested.

The current Winter surge shouldnt have been a surprise to anyone. As Ive warned for Forbes since the Summer, the colder and drier weather, the movement of activities indoors, the Holiday travel and gatherings, and the premature relaxation of Covid-19 precautions have combined to increase transmission of the SARS-CoV-2. The more transmissible Omicron variant has merely been adding fuel to the fire. The U.S. should have done more to anticipate and prepare for this surge. In other words, many people really didnt have their ship together.

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New CDC Warning: Avoid Cruise Ship Travel, Regardless Of Covid-19 Vaccination Status - Forbes