The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is investigating a COVID-19 outbreak on a Carnival Cruise ship after the company reported cases on board in recent days.
A CDC-operated cruise line monitor dashboard says the Carnival Spirit meets the threshold for a CDC investigation based on the number of COVID-19 cases. The agency confirmed it has “started an investigation,” adding that the “ship remains under observation.”
The Carnival Spirit departed Miami on April 17 before arriving in Seattle last week, according to a statement from the cruise operator to The Epoch Times last week. The CDC currently labels the vessel, which reportedly can hold about 3,000 people, as “highly vaccinated” as well as “orange,” indicating that 0.3 percent of total passengers and crew have tested positive for the virus.
The CDC has not responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times, but a spokesperson for the agency told CNN that the Carnival Spirit is one of 62 ships that were labeled as orange.
A spokesperson for Carnival also said that everyone on board the Spirit, including guests and crew members, is fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Carnival’s website also stipulates that everyone who enters the ship has to be vaccinated.
“Our health and safety protocols exceed CDC guidelines and were closely followed including vaccination requirements and pre-cruise testing of all guests. Our crew are also vaccinated and wear masks,” Carnival said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“Our protocols are designed to flex up as needed and additional measures were implemented during the voyage,” the spokesperson added. “In addition, all guests who were scheduled to continue on with the ship’s next cruise to Alaska were tested and any guests and their traveling companions who tested positive were disembarked.”
Two passengers on the Carnival Spirit told news outlets that they believe Carnival didn’t handle the outbreak well.
“I literally stayed in this room for six days, with no telephone service, they wouldn’t answer the phone,” Darren Siefertson, who was placed in quarantine after reportedly testing positive, told CBS News last week. “This ship was so unprepared and so mismanaged that many of us suffered greatly,” he added.
“There were times we ordered our food at 1 p.m. and it didn’t show up until 7 p.m.,” Walter Babij, another passenger, told CNN over the weekend, adding that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19. “There were also a few times we didn’t get our complete orders. We would have to call several times to track down our food. We were completely dependent on them,” Babij said.
Several weeks ago, authorities confirmed that a “100 percent” vaccinated cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises suffered a virus outbreak before it docked in San Francisco, California.
The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, causes COVID-19
Reporting from The Epoch Times.
