CDC met with cruise industry executives
Cruise industry leaders have reportedly met with the CDC and the White House’s COVID-19 task force.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 task force met with executives of the domestic cruise industry to discuss ways to reopen the industry. Amid a bipartisan call for the cruise industry to be permitted to begin operations again, the meeting with Biden administration officials and CDC experts comes at a crucial time.
“For the first time, industry leaders were able to highlight the unique ability of the cruise community to implement and closely manage health protocols that include rigorous screening, testing, prevention, detection, surveillance, and response procedures in a highly controlled environment across the entire cruise experience,” said a spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in a statement sent to CNBC.com journalist Seema Mody.
CEOs for Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean made their cases to the government to replace the current phased-in approach to resuming sailings from United States ports and to create a roadmap that permits sailings to resume by the summer.
Sources told CNBC that the meeting was “encouraging.” The meeting also comes days after a group of Republican senators introduced legislation to replace the CDC’s no-sail order mandate, officially known as the Conditional Sail Order framework.
This is a developing story.
