The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed that it is investigating about 70 cruise ships after reports of COVID-19 cases on board, as the Omicron variant upended holiday travel over the Christmas weekend.
Namely, the CDC said COVID-19 cases on 68 ships had met its threshold for an investigation.
As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads rapidly, ports are starting to reject cruise ships. The latest development comes from the Caribbean Island nations of Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire, which all denied permission to cruise ships to dock in their ports after they were informed that the ships had cases of the virus aboard.
More specifically, health officials from Curacao told local mediahat they felt the percentage of the number of infections was too high while noting that it was also rising rapidly.
What is more, cruise lines have also raised their level of restrictions. Namely, the major firms announced that they would be enforcing requirements for masking onboard and vaccinations.
Royal Caribbean International confirmed that during routine tests aboard their cruise ship, 55 passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
The cruise line noted that all 1,599 crew aboard are vaccinated and 95% of the 3,587 passengers are also vaccinated and tested negative before the cruise’s departure.
