27 People on Carnival Vista Tested Positive for COVID

27 people aboard the Carnival Cruise Line ship Carnival Vista tested positive for COVID19. 26 are crew members and one individual is a passenger. Carnival spokesperson AnneMarie Matthews said that the COVID cases were first announced last Wednesday. During the announcement, Carnival wasn’t sure yet how many people tested positive.

Matthews said during that time that “We are managing a small number of COVID cases on board Vista”. She added that “Guests on board both the previous and current sailing were informed and specifically on the current sailing”. She added that “the Captain has made at least two announcements related to this”.

The tourism board said that “The team at Carnival noted that all positive cases have been isolated and contact tracing has ended with no additional positive cases found”.

The Carnival Vista was carrying 2,895 passengers plus 1,441 crew members upon arriving in Belize. 99.98% of the crew received the vaccine. On the other hand, 96.5% of the passengers received complete doses of the COVID19 vaccine.

Carnival Vista is Not the Only Ship With a COVIID Positive Passenger

Carnival Vista isn’t the first incident where a passenger and crew member tested positive for COVID19. A Celebrity Cruise ship last month had a fully vaccinated passenger who tested positive for COVID.

According to the CDC, cruise ships need to have at least 95% of their crew and passengers vaccinated. If not, the cruise operator will need to have a simulated voyage. Unfortunately, despite these safety protocols, there were instances when ships had a positive passenger.

And now that the US averages 100,000 new cases every day, cruise operators bring back stricter health protocols. Even vaccinated passengers will now have to wear masks on cruises. Also, all the passengers will have to show a negative COVID19 test.

Then, there’s Florida that made it difficult for the cruise operators to secure the vaccination threshold. Under Florida’s new law, businesses can’t employees and customers about their vaccination status. The fine could reach $5,000 per violation. Norwegian sued Florida because of their vaccine passport ban. A judge ruled in favor of Norwegian allowing the operator to ask for proof of vaccination.