The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday (30 December) strengthened its advice for cruising, upping its warning for cruise travel to level four – its highest level.
The CDC said Covid-19 was continuing to spread quickly in confined spaces, such as on a ship, and said the likelihood of infection was therefore high.
It also said there had been an increase in cases onboard cruise ships following the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, now known to be significantly more transmissible than earlier variants.
The CDC is recommending cruise passengers get tested up to 72 hours prior to embarkation, and again three to five days into their cruise – regardless of their vaccination status.
It is also urging unvaccinated cruise passengers to self-isolate for a week after disembarking.
The health authority is currently monitoring Covid-19 outbreaks on 92 cruise ships, up from 86 earlier this week.
It is colour-coding ships according to evidence of "sustained transmission" of Covid onboard; currently, no ships have been marked red.
