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News Round-Up: January 17, 2022
Some news items you might have missed: • Reddit: A gay Redditor went to meet a date (who he met online) at a boba shop, but ‘Mr. Wrong’ silently left after texting the Redditor telling him he was too short. Continue reading “News Round-Up: January 17, 2022”
CDC: People Should Avoid Cruise Travel After Dozens Of Onboard Outbreaks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased its travel warning for cruise ships to the highest level reporting that COVID-19 transmits easily between people in close quarters on ships, and the chance of catching the virus on a cruise is very high even for people who are vaccinated and have received a booster dose. Continue reading “CDC: People Should Avoid Cruise Travel After Dozens Of Onboard Outbreaks”
Royal Caribbean Postpones Cruises After 8 Crew Test Positive For COVID
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The Odyssey of the Seas’ initial sailings, which the cruise line had laid out as six- and eight-night Southern and Western Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from July 3 to July 31, are being canceled as a precaution, Royal Caribbean spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA TODAY. The launch will be postponed until July 31, when the first sailing with paying passengers is now scheduled to depart. Four sailings were scrapped in total.
All 1,400 crew members on Odyssey were vaccinated on June 4, but the positive cases were found before the vaccines would be considered fully effective June 18. Of the eight crew members who tested positive, six are asymptomatic and two have mild symptoms.
Royal Caribbean International is postponing the inaugural sailing of its newest cruise ship after eight crew members received positive COVID-19 test results.https://t.co/xp9Q4s0sHr
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) June 16, 2021
News Round-Up: April 13, 2021
Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus (photo: city of Tucson)
• Pink News: Joe Biden’s senior LGBT+ advisor, Reggie Greer, says the White House is focused on “educating people” in its approach to getting the landmark Equality Act passed into law. • Sun-Sentinel: Silversea Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines have both announced they will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all passengers when it resumes global itineraries on June 5. The decision could set up a confrontation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who has issued an executive order barring businesses in Florida from requiring proof of vaccinations. • Instinct Magazine: So-called ‘White Lives Matter’ rallies led by tragic Trump supporters flopped all over the country this past weekend. My Instinct colleague Corey Andrew writes, “In a blaring example of the public’s discontent with these vile people and all they represent, the turnout at these rallies across the country was far less than impressive.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CNk_ge1h5Sy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
COVID-19 Outbreak On One Of First Cruises To Resume
(image via The Points Guy)
Norwegian expedition cruise company Hurtigruten late Friday said four sick crew members from the 535-passenger Roald Amundsen were admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø, Norway, earlier in the day after the vessel docked in the city. All four had tested positive for COVID-19.
On Saturday, the line said another 32 crew members had tested positive for the illness. All four of the hospitalized crew members had been sick for several days while onboard the vessel, and all four had been placed in isolation. But the line said their symptoms weren’t consistent with COVID-19. They only tested positive for the illness after the ship docked in Tromsø early Friday.
The entire ship has now been placed in isolation, and the 154 remaining crew members on board have all been tested for COVID-19. Hurtigruten on Saturday said 122 of the crew members had tested negative for the illness.
Report: Over 100,000 Crew Members Stuck On Cruise Ships
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Many of these crew are quarantined in tiny cabins, and some have had their pay cut off. They have in effect become a nation of floating castaways, marooned on boats from the Galapagos Islands to Dubai port.
Many of the crew have only minimal communication with the outside world, making their situations hard to scrutinise. But at least 17 cruise ship workers are confirmed to have died from suspected Covid-19, and dozens more have had to be evacuated from ships and taken to hospital, the Guardian found.
“We all have family, we all want to go home,” said one crew member who has been isolating in his cabin onboard the MSC Seaview off South America for nearly a month, but is no longer being paid.
One crew member, who spoke anonymously for fear of losing his job, said those on his ship were initially allowed to move about freely, but have since been told to remain in their cabins after a co-worker (who had already left the ship) tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Guardian’s reporting adds that at the beginning of April the U.S. Coast Guard estimated there were approximately 93,000 crew members still onboard ships in and around U.S. waters alone. In other parts of the world, its believed there are tens of thousands more crew members stuck on their ships. The article quotes John Hickey, a maritime lawyer, who said crew members “did not have access to the rights afforded by their nations of citizenship, yet they were often outside the jurisdiction of the countries where their ships were sailing.”