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Cruises could represent a “lower risk,” compared to travel options such as international travel, Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.
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Gottlieb is a former FDA commissioner and co-chair of the Health Sail Panel for Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.
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Cruise ships have implemented many health protocols that could turn ships into “protective bubbles”.
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Cruises could be a “lower risk” travel option compared to other alternatives such as overseas vacations, said Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner for the US Food and Drug Administration CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on April 9th.
Many major cruise lines have put in place robust health and safety protocols to make the return of sailing safer in the midst of COVID-19. These include Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and the Royal Caribbean Group, who have teamed up to create the Healthy Sail Panel. The panel suggests ways in which the industry can safely move forward in the face of virus problems and is currently jointly led by Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member.
The panel has already recommended 74 protocols, From the use of the face mask to the COVID-19 test for guests and crew.
“When you start implementing all of these public health recommendations that we have outlined, you are creating an environment that can be fairly safe,” said Gottlieb said CNBC. “You can create a protective bubble around them [cruise] Experience.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic began, virus outbreaks broke out on board cruise lines around the world Thousands of cruisers stranded or infected. Shortly thereafter, the CDC issued a no-sail order, which was later replaced by their recently updated conditional sail order.
To Make the return of sailing saferSeveral cruise lines have implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates. This includes Norwegian, which recently made vaccinations mandatory for both guests and crew.
Shortly after that announcement, Frank Del Rio, President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that cruise ships are “de facto the safest place in the world” As more cruise lines keep expanding their health protocols.
“I urge you to tell me about another venue that has such ironclad health and safety protocols,” Del Rio told CNBC’s Cramer.
Gottlieb has since reiterated Del Rio’s views on cruise ship safety.
“I think you can create a safe bubble around this experience, especially when you compare it to other vacation experiences where you can’t control the environment,” Gottlieb told CNBC.
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