The Centers for Disease Control has lowered the risk warning for some popular Caribbean Destinations and Cruise Travel. CDC has lowered the cruise ship travel warning advisory. It was decided that the CDC would drop its cruise travel warning from Level 3 “High” to Level 2 “Moderate,” which is the second significant change this year. Nine Caribbean Islands in the Atlantic ocean area have gone from a Level 4 “Very High” to Level 3 “High.” These islands include the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Martin, and the Turks and Caicos.
According to the CDC, the change represents the status of the COVID19 pandemic at this time.
As it concerns cruises, the new warning advises travelers to be sure they are up to date with vaccination before their ship travels and to still avoid cruise travel if they are at risk for severe illness from COVID-19. However, even with the CDC lowering the warning and allowing its Conditional Sail Order, cruise ships operating in the U.S. have all continued to voluntarily participate in the program, which tracks COVID-19 levels onboard.
One hundred eight of the one hundred twelve cruise ships operating under the CSO are considered “highly vaccinated ships.” This means they are sailing with at least 95% of travelers who are fully vaccinated. Most of the 112 ships have no reported cases of COVID-19 onboard and just 20 have reported enough cases to meet the threshold of CDC investigation. None of the ships operating have reported enough cases to meet the threshold of CDC investigation, which is an infection in more than 0.3% of total passengers or crew members.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships and the chance of getting COVID-19 is moderate.
The CDC recommends passengers get a COVID-19 test as close to the time of departure as possible and wear a face mask when indoors or in crowded outdoor settings.
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