April 30, 2021 By Frank McCormack
While much of the nation’s economy is back underway, albeit with restrictions due to COVID-19 still in place, one segment still stuck in port is the blue-water cruise industry.
Earlier in April, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) updated its “Framework for Conditional Sailing Order” and released recommendations for travelers returning from cruise ships and river cruise voyages worldwide. And while the CDC is still prohibiting embarkations of large cruise ships at U.S. ports, the agency, it seems, has come to grips that U.S. citizens may nonetheless travel abroad to board a cruise ship.
Photo Credit: gary yim / Shutterstock.com
Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley discussed the restart of ships in the Caribbean in the upcoming months with the
Caribbean Tourism Organization. He also discussed the ongoing talks between the cruise line and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The discussions on whether or not cruises could resume from the U.S. reached a new high point as the CDC made several amendments for those people that have been vaccinated in the United States.
However, new guidelines for the cruise industry remain lacking. Something that has prompted some cruise lines to cancel all U.S. voyages until, in some cases, the fall of 2021.
DATES: Sunday, May 9, 2021
CRUISING TIME: 3:00PM-5:00PM (2:30PM boarding)
STARTING
RATE: $59.90
To provide reassurance in the current pandemic environment, City Experiences has expanded its industry defining SafeCruise by City Cruises program, building on already stringent sanitation processes, to incorporate further health-driven measures to guard against the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses. These include, but are not limited to:
Supporting local regulatory initiatives against the spread of COVID-19
Mandatory daily crew member health screening and wearing of appropriate PPE.
Revised boarding and ticketing procedures to allow for social distancing and touchless entry.
Requiring guests to wear face masks while cruising, except while eating and drinking.
Cook County Anticipates Hearing From Feds on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine This Week
Cook County health officials said Wednesday that use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, currently paused for a federal review, could soon resume. We anticipate hearing from the CDC and the FDA later this week that the vaccine will be put back into use but probably with some restrictions and certainly a warning about the potential for the very rare complication of blood clots, Cook County Department of Public Health Senior Medical Officer Dr. Rachel Rubin said during a news conference Wednesday. Many people are asking for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, one-dose vaccine, and we will continue to offer it once it is approved for use again, she added.
COVID-19 Cases at Suburban Chicago School Send 147 Students to Quarantine
Health officials are seeing an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases as Chicago-area high schools resume in-person learning, but the origin of the cases varies by school.
There are currently 12 active cases at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, according to school officials. They said 147 students are in quarantine. Everybody that’s reported positive infections has told us they were with groups of kids without masks on in basements or in eating places, like a sandwich shop or something like that, said principal Gordie Sisson.
Indiana Reaches Higher-Risk Level on Chicago s Travel Order, But It s Not Listed Yet