Thousands of people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship were quarantined in Japan after 10 passengers were diagnosed with the new strain of coronavirus (COVID-19). In the weeks that followed, more than 600 of the 3,700 passengers and crew members on the ship tested positive for the virus.
Some of the passengers have been airlifted to quarantined facilities in their home countries, while others are still waiting to be repatriated. This has left many people with questions and concerns about the safety of traveling by cruise ship or other means.
Prospective travelers may worry about the risk of contracting the virus — as well as the chance that they might get quarantined in a foreign port if their fellow travelers get sick.
“Understand that the cruise operators, ports of call, and the American public health authorities are all on high alert with safety and precautionary programs in place,” Dr. Louis Morledge, an internist who specializes in travel medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told. “Major cruise lines have been aggressive since the outbreak began by stepping up their pre-boarding health screenings and turning away any passengers or crew members who have recently been in China,” he said.
Individual travelers can also help limit the transmission of COVID-19 and other viruses by practicing good hand hygiene, minimizing contact with people who are sick, and taking other steps to help manage the risk of infection.
Since the COVID-19 virus was first detected in China in December 2019, more than 77,000 cases have been confirmed there. More than a thousand cases have also been confirmed outside of China, with most of those cases occurring in countries in East and Southeast Asia. To help limit transmission, the CDC is advising Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China. The U.S. Department of State has also issued a warning against traveling there.
The absolute risk of contracting the virus outside of China remains “pretty darn low,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told Healthline.
But when people are deciding whether or not to travel to other countries in the region, he encourages them to take their personal risk tolerance into account. Those who have a low tolerance for risk may be more comfortable postponing their trips or choosing another destination.
“Cruising to South America? Cruising the Caribbean? Cruising the Mediterranean? No problem, at least not from the point of view [of]coronavirus,” Schaffner said. “But Southeast Asia cruising? Maybe next year,” he said. ♦
