CDC to grade cruise ship COVID status
THE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to publish a “scorecard” indicating the level of COVID-19 infection on board all pax cruise ships currently in US waters, as part of efforts to help repatriate more than 62,000 crew still on board.
Updated guidance posted on the CDC website this week gives details of colour-coding which will indicate whether crew are able to get home using commercial or charter transport, and measures to be taken on board during the current no-sail period for each level of infection.
“Green ships” are those which have had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illness for 28 days; “red ships” have had one or more cases of confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the past 28 days; and “yellow ships” will have been previously designated green but had a case of COVID-like illness which is awaiting testing.
To maintain green status ships must submit a weekly “enhanced data collection” form to the CDC.
Ships which are designated as green can undertake crew transfers and repatriation via commercial transportation.
On board procedures also vary between vessels depending on their status, with yellow and red ships required to relocate all crew to single-occupancy cabins with private bathrooms; cancel all face-to-face employee meetings, group events or social gatherings; implement social distancing and close all bars and gyms.
All vessels must eliminate self-serve dining, promote handwashing and place hand sanitiser throughout the ship.
The CDC is also believed to be in the final stages of reviewing health and safety plans submitted by cruise operators in Apr in response to the no-sail order, outlining how they will detect, prevent and mitigate the spread of coronavirus at sea.
The Miami Herald says COVID-19 cases have been confirmed on 63 ships, or almost a quarter of the global ocean passenger cruise fleet.
The newspaper also reports that non-working crew members on many of the stranded vessels are not being paid, while some are also being asked to pay for their own onboard toiletries.