Cruises sail into a new era of Covid self-policing
WASHINGTON — The nightmare cruises of spring 2020 are back as Omicron sends passenger case rates soaring. Yet the CDC is poised to loosen the industry’s Covid leash, saying cruise lines are now positioned to police themselves.
On Saturday, despite a 30-fold increase in on-board Covid cases, with cruise ships being turned away at ports and passengers getting sick, the CDC plans to lift all of its Covid restrictions on the cruise industry.
Just two weeks ago, the agency was recommending against cruising even for vaccinated passengers, and the agency’s official guidance states “even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”
It’s the latest in a seri...
