CDC\u2019s role in helping cruise ship travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Updated Oct. 30, 2020Outbreaks of infectious diseases can happen on cruise ships because people spend time close together and with travelers from many countries. The current scientific evidence suggests that cruise ships pose a greater risk of COVID-19 transmission than other settings because of the high population density onboard ships, which are typically more densely populated than cities or most other living situations. While this is one contributing factor, CDC\u2019s surveillance data show that drastically decreasing population onboard without additional mitigation measures does not end transmission.Other factors likely contributing to onboard transmission are crew living and working in close quarters in a partially enclosed environment where social distancing may prove challenging, even with a limited number of people. Additionally, mild illnesses and asymptomatic infections make case detection and isolation and quarantine practices based on clinical presentation alone challenging. Thus, unrecognized spread of infection among crew may keep the virus circulating from one voyage to the next. Disease can spread between ships when crew members from a ship with an outbreak transfer to other ships. Infected people may also travel on cruise ships between countries.What is the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order? -- How long is the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order in effect? -- Why did CDC establish the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order? -- Which cruise ships does the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order cover? -- What does the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order mean for my upcoming trip? -- What was the No Sail Order? -- What is CDC doing to help cruise ships with crew still onboard?2020E:\cpapFiles\WebServer\COVIDcruise-ship-what-cdc-is-doing2020oct30eng.pdfhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/cruise-ship/what-cdc-is-doing.html859