Rising COVID numbers aboard ships prompt cruise cancellations
Health officials have announced the cancellation of three cruise ships to the territory after reports of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases aboard those vessels.
In a release issued by the Ministry Health, officials said the Queen Mary, Queen Victoria, and Wind Surf, all scheduled to arrive yesterday December 26, had cancelled their berths.
According to the release, once the COVID-19 cases onboard reach certain thresholds, cruise lines often make voluntary decisions not to call at ports until the situation is under control.
The statement further noted that countries also have the option to deny pratique or landing in such instances.
Cruise ships are part of a mandatory reporting system which include the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), and regional ministries of health, the release explained.
This occurrence of cancelled cruise calls because of COVID-19 is the first in several months. It was previously reported that a cruise liner cancelled its berth in June this year just as the BVI was preparing to jumpstart its cruise tourism operations after a lengthy pandemic-induced hiatus.
Meanwhile, other cruise vessel s such as the Amsterdam Windstar and Star Legend Windstar were cleared and granted “free pratique” allowing them to call in the Virgin Islands, the release stated.
The news of the cancellations comes amid rising case numbers in the BVI; with the latest reports putting total active COVID-19 cases at 143 persons as of December 24, while the total COVID-related deaths currently stand at 39 persons.
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They cant blame us because we cant go on cruises
Why can’t we go on cruises? There’s no ban on travel for us.
@unvax we blame you’ll because you’re unruly unvaccinated kind keeps smuggling people into the country and top of that been wildly out.
You need to learn to comprehend and write before making such stupid statements
All the evidence right there exactly why the cases up yet yall preaching vacvines like idiots
The evidence is in the photo. Huge green blobs in Road Harbor. No wonder people don’t want to come here/
wtf is a vacvine?
The CDC are implementing a voluntary reporting code for the cruise lines, due to the spineless Florida Covid policy. As they are flagged with convenience flags like Panama, Liberia, St Kitts they are not regulated.
Wish our little territory was governed and managed as professionally as the cruise ships.
They “force” you all to open by stripping away protocol for covid testing, infect us and now they pulling out to go somewhere else.
Hope the pittance you charged them to be happy along with private beach rights was worth it. Now they going play elsewhere while we have to deal with the influx of covid they brought under rules they negotiated that you complied with without argument.
did you read the full article?
What private beach rights?