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Law360 (July 16, 2020, 8:27 PM EDT ) Cruises are banned from U.S. waters until Oct. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday, citing the continued rapid spread of COVID-19 across the country.
The order marked the CDC's second extension of its "no sail order," which it first imposed March 14. The ban had been scheduled to expire July 24,
Members of Cruise Lines International Association — which includes industry leaders Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings — had already voluntarily canceled sailings through Sept. 15, with individual operators cancelling certain sailings further into the future. But a statement on Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line's website Thursday said it was planning to resume cruises Aug. 28.
"CDC supports the decision by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) and its members to voluntarily extend the suspension of operations for passenger cruise ship travel. However, because not all cruise ship operators subject to the No Sail Order are members of CLIA or have made similar commitments, CDC is extending its No Sail Order to ensure that passenger operations do not resume prematurely," the CDC said in its order.
The no sail order could be lifted sooner at the discretion of the CDC or in the event that the secretary of Health and Human Services declares that COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, but current trends are headed in the opposite direction.
The CDC noted in its order that 230,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported on July 12, the largest single-day tally worldwide to date. As of July 12, more than 12.5 million cases had been reported globally and more than 560,000 deaths, the CDC said.
The cruise industry has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. From March 1 to July 10, the CDC recorded 2,973 COVID-19 or COVID-like cases on cruises ships, in addition to 34 deaths, it said. There were 99 outbreaks on 123 different ships, meaning 80% of ships within U.S. jurisdiction were affected by the pandemic. Another nine ships are still dealing with outbreaks.
Cruise lines also have seen their revenue plummet with the halt in operations and have faced lawsuits from passengers, crew members and investors over their handling of the crisis.
The CDC said seven cruise operators submitted "No Sail Order response plans" for crew management mandated in its April 15 extension, covering 110 ships. But it reported that operators have had substantial difficulty meeting all the requirements.
As of July 10, only Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line had a response plan meeting all the elements, and Thursday's order cited several examples of noncompliance with the CDC's order by various cruise lines.
"The difficulty to date of cruise ship operators to submit and adhere to appropriate NSO response plans during a time of limited operations, as well as ongoing concerns relating to noncompliance with disease prevention protocols and continued outbreaks of COVID-19 on board cruise ships, highlight the need for further action prior to resuming passenger operations," the CDC said.
The order imposes restrictions on disembarking or reboarding crew members or embarking new passengers or crew without approval of federal authorities, as well as putting in place onboard mitigation and surveillance practices, according to the order.
The CDC said it has helped assist in the disembarkation and safe return of nearly 8,900 crew members, but more than 14,000 crew members remain on board various cruise ships waiting to get home.
In a statement Thursday, the CLIA said its members "remain aligned" with the CDC in their commitment to public health and safety and that they were pleased the agency said it intends to request information from the industry about resuming operations.
"As we continue to work towards the development of enhanced protocols to support the safe resumption of cruise operations around the world, we look forward to timely and productive dialogue with the CDC to determine measures that will be appropriate for ocean-going cruise operations to resume in the United States when the time is right," the CLIA said.
--Editing by Stephen Berg.
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