In a major blow to the cruise industry, the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Americans should avoid all cruise travel, even if they’re fully vaccinated.
The CDC on Thursday upgraded its travel warning advisory for cruising from level three to level four. Level three indicates what the CDC calls a “high” level of COVID-19 and advises travellers to make sure they’re fully vaccinated before taking a trip. Level four is for “very high” levels of the virus and suggests that people “avoid travel” entirely.
The world cruise industry was just getting its sea legs back in the fall when word came of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The spread of the variant, which appears to be more mild than the Delta variant but more easily transmissible, has led to renewed travel restrictions across the globe.
The CDC decision to change cruise ship travel to level four “reflects increases in cases onboard cruise ships since identification of the Omicron variant,” the agency said on its website. “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.
“Outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported on cruise ships.”
