US Congress members call for reinstatement of no-sail order

The future of cruise sailings could once again be in jeopardy, with two US Democratic Congress members calling for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to put its no-sail order back in place, according to USA Today.

A story on the newspaper’s website revealed that Senator Richard Blumenthal stated in an interview that the CDC’s current stance on cruise sailings “is putting American lives at risk”, while COVID-19 infection rates remain high in the US.

He also said in the interview that the potential remains high for cruise ship sailings to increase COVID-19 infection rates.

According to USA Today, Blumenthal and Congresswoman Doris Matsui wrote a joint letter to the CDC asking that it reverse its current position on sailing.

The latest CDC guidelines put cruise lines through a rigorous series of protocols and checklists before they can take on paying passengers.

The CDC’s no-sail order expired at the end of October and was not renewed due to possible pressure from the White House.

But with the end of the Donald Trump administration nearing, a tougher stance on COVID-19 is expected from a Joe Biden presidency and the possible reinstatement of the no-sail order being requested from Congress.

In recent days, a cruise line carrying passengers in the Caribbean revealed that passengers tested positive for COVID-19.

“In light of these disturbing reports, we feel strongly that you should reverse course on the recent decision by the CDC to take a phased approach to restarting cruise line operations in the United States,” Blumenthal and Matsui said in their letter.

“Instead, we implore you to extend the prior no-sail order until a time when the health and safety of passengers and crew can be assured.

“According to the CDC’s no-sail order, cruise ships continue to be an unsafe environment, with close quarters where the disease spreads easily and is not readily detected.

“In fact, cruise ships were breeding grounds for the virus at the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak. With the images of passengers and crew stranded aboard the Grand Princess still fresh in our minds, it is imperative that we learn from the past and take immediate action to prevent history from repeating itself.”

The Bahamas relies heavily on cruise tourism, especially Grand Bahama and Nassau.

Most cruise lines have already cleared their 2020 itineraries and have begun preparing to sail again in 2021. 

If cruise lines are barred from sailing in the first quarter of next year, The Bahamas would have been without cruise tourism for almost one year.

Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar told Guardian Business last week that cruise lines and The Bahamas still have to iron out plans in the event that a critically sick passenger presents with COVID-19 while in The Bahamas.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/us-congress-members-call-for-reinstatement-of-no-sail-order/