Table Of Content
- Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships
- Grand Princess cruise ship hit by double Covid and gastro outbreaks docks in Adelaide
- is the year of getting sick on a cruise
- Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships surge to decade-high levels: How to avoid the stomach bug
- What’s the risk of cruise ship COVID-19 transmission?
- CDC drops its COVID-19 risk advisory for cruise ship travel
And you’ll probably come across a few new sinks for hand-washing and additional hand-sanitizing stations around the ship. But on a whole, whether you’re taking a singles cruise, couples cruise, adults-only cruise or all-inclusive cruise, there are almost no reminders of the pandemic. As part of its Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks occurrences of gastrointestinal disease on board, which cruises are required to report. The cases are reported before arriving to the US from a foreign port, or whenever 3% or more of cruise passengers or crew are ill. Credits for canceled cruises and pent-up demand meant cruise lines had no trouble filling their ships in 2021.
Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships
Other passengers were notified, and crew members "increased cleaning and disinfection procedures." SA Health said in a statement the ship docked in Melbourne on Saturday to undergo a clean and all passengers disembarked while that was undertaken. The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said those on board the ship that arrive in Adelaide on Monday and needed urgent care would be transported to hospital facilities in a way that was safe. South Australia Health said the remaining cases on the Grand Princess cruise ship, operated by Princess Cruises, were “consistent with numbers you would expect on any cruise ship”. SA Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the health department had stayed in contact with Princess Cruises, and commented the company had done "extremely well" amid "some challenges". He said people who were ill disembarked the ship separately when they got to Adelaide while those with symptoms are told to stay on the boat and not go on tours.
Grand Princess cruise ship hit by double Covid and gastro outbreaks docks in Adelaide
In 2019, nearly 15 million people took cruises in the US, while that number was down to only 2 million in 2021, and about 5 million in 2022. Though it was one of the largest of the year, the outbreak on the Nieuw Amsterdam was mild, and all sick individuals were quarantined. Only on the Princess Cruises’s Ruby Princess, which had a norovirus outbreak during its mid-February trip, were there were more cases, with 234 passengers and 34 members of the crew becoming ill.
is the year of getting sick on a cruise
As the CDC states, the virus spreads easily in close quarters on ships, and passengers and crew are all at risk. As the CDC notes, millions of people travel on cruises every year, making less than a dozen outbreaks a relatively minor concern. So outbreaks are found and reported more quickly on a cruise ship than on land,” says the CDC. While this is positive news, reports of infectious outbreaks on cruise ships evoke a sense of deja vu.
"The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are our top priority," Silversea told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. According to the CDC, the most common settings for norovirus outbreaks are health care facilities, restaurants or catered events, schools, day cares and, of course, cruise ships. After a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of the highly contagious virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting, aka stomach flu, spiked this winter and spring on land. As post-pandemic travel surges and millions of Americans return to cruise ships, an increasing number of cruise lines are reporting outbreaks at sea.
Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships surge to decade-high levels: How to avoid the stomach bug
Given faecal contamination is a major source of norovirus transmission, this is concerning. The risk of getting sick with gastro was significantly higher on bigger ships and longer voyages. This is because the longer you are in close contact with others, the greater the chance of exposure to an infectious dose of viruses or bacteria. "Ships [are another] key one where we have, in the past, also had foodborne disease or other person-to-person outbreaks being reported, even before the pandemic." A cruise ship that docked in Adelaide this week has garnered national headlines due to a simultaneous outbreak of COVID-19 and gastroenteritis.
So if you are about to go cruising, how do you avoid getting a norovirus infection, beside, of course, not going on the cruise? Just because many have eased up on Covid-19 precautions doesn’t mean that you should stop washing your hands. Norovirus often isn’t just your typical I’m-feeling-a-little-sick-so-I-may-pass-on-shuffleboard type of gastroenteritis.
Ruby Princess passengers win class action suit over 2020 COVID-19 cruise - UPI News
Ruby Princess passengers win class action suit over 2020 COVID-19 cruise.
Posted: Wed, 25 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
While the CDC has lifted its travel health notice, officials say it's up to the passengers to determine their own health risks before going onboard a cruise ship. The most common symptoms of norovirus are vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain, Dr. Albert Ko, infectious disease physician and professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com. The spokesperson said on a previous trip, which was a 14 day round trip from Melbourne to Queensland, a number of people had symptoms of a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness.
Virus particles can contaminate drinking water that isn't treated properly or pools when people poop in the water. There’s no specific treatment or antiviral for norovirus, according to Ostrosky, but most cases can be managed at home with supportive care like hydration and rest. Sick people should also isolate until their symptoms resolve, the experts emphasize. Less commonly, norovirus may cause a headache, muscle aches, or a low-grade fever — symptoms usually develop within one to two days after exposure to the virus, per the CDC.
"If they do have symptoms … go and see the ship's doctor, they have guidance in place about who might need to quarantine," she said. "Keeping distance where you can, staying outdoors on the ship as often as you can rather than being in shared indoor settings, avoiding crowded areas within indoors on ships," she said. As Australia approaches the summer holiday period, the fate of the Grand Princess has brought holiday illness into the spotlight.
For 160 of them, and 26 members of its 813-person staff, the journey also featured a gastrointestinal illness. On cruise ships, people tend to crowd together in confined spaces for extended periods. These include dining halls, and during social activities in casinos, bars and theaters. Passengers may come from multiple countries, potentially bringing variants from different parts of the world. Influenza, which is usually seasonal (late autumn to early spring) onshore, can occur at any time on a cruise ship if it has international passengers or is calling at international ports. These include dining halls, and during social activities in casinos, bars and theatres.
Pricing remained stable—no need for the lines to discount fares—throughout the year. But things are different this year, what with reduced restrictions on cruise ships and delayed or canceled flights across the country. Reducing regulations and restrictions regarding COVID-19 has been the cruise industry’s focus since the pandemic’s beginning. As arguably the hardest-hit industry in the tourism sector—cruise ship COVID-19 fears meant 81% fewer passengers embarked on a cruise in 2020 versus 2019—ships are more than ready to be back and sailing at full capacity. Though cruises will have a slew of protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, including vaccination requirements on some ships, that doesn't mean sailing is without risk.
That said, the option to spend your time outdoors versus inside the ship gives you the ability to somewhat lower your risk compared with, say, air travel. In other words, you can’t eliminate the risk of COVID-19 on a cruise, but you can change your behavior. That, it appears, is enough assurance for many travelers who are flocking to their favorite cruise lines. "While cruising will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission, travelers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings," the agency said in a statement to NPR. South Florida's cruise companies are buoyed by a surge in passengers, but they're still paying for the pandemic interrupting their business.
We probably all remember the high-profile COVID outbreaks that occurred on cruise ships in 2020. "On the previous voyage (a 14-days round trip cruise from Melbourne to Queensland) a number of people reported to the Medical Centre with symptoms of respiratory illness and acute gastrointestinal illness," it said. In an update posted online, the agency removed its "Cruise Ship Travel Health Notice," a notice that recommended individuals against traveling onboard cruise ships. Three months ago, the CDC increased its travel warnings for cruises to Level 4 — the highest level — following investigations of ships that had COVID outbreaks. Several weeks prior, a Celebrity Summit cruise ship reported an outbreak of norovirus that sickened more than 150 passengers and 25 crew members, per the CDC. Another popular cruise line, Royal Caribbean International, has reported four outbreaks since January.
The CDC logged 14 cruise ship outbreaks that met its threshold for public notification in 2023, more than any year between 2017 and 2019. Silversea notified guests and crew of the outbreak via announcements and encouraged them to report cases and practice “good hand hygiene,” the CDC said. The line also isolated those who were sick and implemented heightened cleaning and disinfection measures. For tickets starting at $2,699 per-person, double occupancy rate, 1,970 passengers get to enjoy a spa treatments, fine meals, and pickleball at sea.
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