Everything you remember the cruise lines and public officials getting wrong when the coronavirus pandemic began exploding last February—barring evacuation from affected ships, limited health care, no port to sail to,in fact, no real plans at all—has been addressed in new guidance for cruise lines issued by the European Union as cruisers and cruise lines look to open again.
The EU’s Healthy Gateway program, a set of guidance for member nations on public health at Europe’s borders, airports and ports, puts preventing Covid-19 infection at the top of list for cruise lines, starting at booking and clearance and only ending when passengers return home. To keep that goal in mind the document lists requirements that emphasize planning and written contingency plans.
Industry association Cruise Lines International Association, representing nearly all major companies in the field, supported the program, saying that “This guidance from the public health authorities in Europe provides a useful resource for cruise lines as they prepare to resume operations.”
Among the items to be covered in plans are consistent monitoring of epidemiological situations worldwide, plans to manage onboard outbreaks, advance arrangements for repatriation, medical treatment, immediate shoreside quarantine where needed, medical testing plans and in-place arrangements with port authorities for notification, quarantine, and more.
Also called for are careful and enforceable plans for physical distancing, inspections by EU member nations, written exclusion policies to identify when passengers will not be allowed on a cruise and special precautions for ‘high risk’ groups such as seniors. The program also calls for extensive training for crew members in following the new rules and procedures.
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