CDC Data Reveals How Cruise Ship Passengers Spread COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control has released a detailed report showing exactly how cruise ship passengers helped spread the coronavirus back in the winter and early spring, even after passengers had already disembarked.

The report is based on the CDC performing ambitious contact tracing on 11,000 people on various ships that were plagued with the virus.

COVID-19 has been blamed for cruise ship outbreaks and deaths early on when the virus first started making its way worldwide after starting in Wuhan, China.

One reason why it spread so quickly on boats—back in January and February, passengers and crew were not subject to quarantine measures after leaving ships even if they had the virus or were suspected of having it.

From March 1 to July 10, the CDC counted 2,973 cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illnesses on cruise ships.

In addition, the CDC noted that cruise passengers also are likely to get on a plane to meet their boat—both coming and going—and many also stay at hotels and utilize shuttle vans, fostering the spread of the disease.