CDC Call For People To Avoid Cruise Travel 'Perplexing' As Cases Far Less Frequent Than On Land, Says CLIA

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) on Thursday called out the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for what it suggested was the singling out of the cruise industry with a new travel advisory over COVID-19 fears due to the fast-spreading omicron coronavirus variant.

What Happened: CDC on Thursday raised the cruise travel health notice to Level 4, the highest level, indicating the risk for COVID-19 is very high and advised travelers to avoid taking the cruise irrespective of their vaccination status.

“The decision is particularly perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard—far fewer than on land—and the majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore,” CLIA said.

See Also: Royal Caribbean, Carnival Among 68 Cruise Ships Under CDC Investigation Radar For COVID-19 Cases

Why It Matters: The CDC had earlier this week said it is investigating or has kept a total of 68 ships under investigation after reports of COVID-19 cases on board.

Ships from Carnival Corp CCL, Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH, Walt Disney Co DIS, and others were either kept under observation or were being investigated.

The health agency on Thursday issued the change in warning, citing increased COVID-19 cases among passengers and crew since the omicron COVID-19 variant was identified.

The fresh update comes as a blow to the cruise liners that were hit hard last year and only months ago resumed operations. The rising COVID-19 cases bring back fears that the fast-spreading Omicron variant could once again disrupt the cruise industry.

About 1,350 passengers came down with COVID-19 between mid-June and October, according to the CDC.

Price Action: RCL shares closed 1.1% lower at $77.4 a share, Norwegian Cruise Line stock closed 2.59% lower at $21.02 and Carnival stock closed 1.25% lower at $20.53 on Thursday.