During a press conference, after meeting with the cruise line executives in Port Everglades, Florida, Vice President Mike Pence said they are tracking another cruise ship that may have shared crew members with the Diamond Princess or the Grand Princess. Vice President Pence who is in charge of a task force to manage the U.S. response to the Coronavirus outbreak didn’t say which specific cruise ship the state authorities are tracking.
"We've taken decisive action to hold until we do a full medical assessment of the crew on that ship, and we will continue the lead to this effort," Mr Pence said.
During the meeting with the senior cruise industry executives of Carnival Corporation, MSC Cruises USA, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Adam Goldstein chair of CLIA, Mr Pence announced the cruise lines will develop a significantly enhanced plan to battle the disease.
The plans over the next few days will be implemented to protect guests and crew. The New safety protocols will include entry and exit procedures as well as onboard Coronavirus testing in the ship's medical facilities.
Princess Cruises has updated today the Health Advisory and Travel Safety Procedures which will be implemented fleet-wide. The company will implement the following protection and prevention tactics:
- Beginning in select embarkation terminals on March 7th and as soon as possible in all embarkation terminals, we will be temperature checking all guests embarking on our ships using temporal scanning thermometers. All guests presenting with a fever or flu-like symptoms will be denied boarding, irrespective of their recent travel history. All guests who are denied boarding due to sickness will be issued a full cruise credit or refund.
- Beginning in select embarkation terminals on March 7th and as soon as possible in all embarkation terminals, we will be implementing enhanced sanitation protocols including the thorough cleaning of all hand touching surfaces for all cruise terminals before and after all sailings.
- Onboard all Princess ships, effective immediately, we are executing enhanced environmental sanitation protocols with a disinfectant that kills coronaviruses within 30 seconds.
- Our medical experts are coordinating closely with international health authorities and together, we have developed a written traveler’s health declaration to be completed by all guests and crew prior to boarding in order to keep our guests and crew safe. This health declaration advises guests and crew of their obligation to report any symptoms of illness. PLEASE NOTE: Given the serious nature of these circumstances, false responses on pre-boarding documents will result in immediate disembarkation at the next opportunity. Individuals who do not disclose travel through prohibited areas may also face additional legal consequences.
Additional Screening & Measures for COVID-19 implemented by Princess Cruises can be found here.
