SWINE FLU - PREPARING CRUISE SHIPS AND PASSENGERS
To put your mind at rest, and determined not to have another health problem (like the norovirus) dog the cruise industry, most cruise lines have lept into action with plans to deal with the swine flu problem.
Cruise lines’ plans focus on preparing their vessels to try and prevent any possibility of an outbreak, making sure they are able to detect outbreaks as soon as they occur and being ready to respond to and contain any such outbreak.
In fact, for most regular cruise passengers, there is not much new in these measures, except that they may seem more intensified.
Preparing the vessels includes providing hand sanitizers throughout all ships and conducting enhanced sanitizing of all high-touch areas onboard. Cruise lines have been providing hand sanitizers for some time to combat the norovirus, but now passengers may not be allowed to so easily pass them by with using them.
Educating crew and passengers forms a large part of cruise line’s plans, and these measures include showing educational videos for crew and passengers about infectious illnesses like swine flu and the norovirus.
This, together with swine flu bulletins from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), IS something new for many cruise passengers. The point is not to alarm you, but to prepare you.
Part of prevention measures also include screening embarking guests and crew members who have travelled from Mexico or who have had contact with others who have. On many cruise ships, passengers who are obviously ill will not be allowed to board.
Plans to deal with any outbreaks of swine flu, if necessary, include an adequate supply of anti-viral medications and an onboard medical staff who can isolate and treat guests or crew members who display flu-like symptoms.
Prow's Edge now has a new page with an overview of the swine flu outbreak of 2009 which can be found at http://www.prowsedge.com/cruises-advice-swine-flu.html and some of the latest press releases by the cruise lines about their cancellations and itinerary alterations can be found in the Prow's Edge news pages.
Thanks for the great coverage on this - here on your blog and on your site - but now that things seem to be calming down, and now that it does seem that this is turning out to be less like a science fiction movie after all - does anyone have a prediction about when things can get back to normal?
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