Cruise ships could be back on San Francisco's waterfront as soon as July.
It was over a year ago when the Grand Princess pulled up to an Oakland dock to off load sick passengers, while hundreds of others remained quarantined in their cabins. More than a hundred people who had been on the ship tested positive for the virus and seven people died.
Since then, no cruises have left the U.S. But now with vaccinations underway and cases starting to decline in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cruise operators can start launching voyages by mid-July if 98% of the crew and 95% of passengers are fully vaccinated.
Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain was involved in talks with the CDC and says they have successfully been operating in other parts of the world.
"The Royal Caribbean group alone has carried over 100,000 guests, and of that we’ve only had 10 cases,” he said. “We would like to be treated a very similar way to the airlines and other forms of transportation."
Fain says cruise lines have had over a year to learn and develop safety procedures.
“That includes new ways of circulating air, new filtration. It includes cleanliness, ways to clean areas, it includes testing."
UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford says the CDC’s vaccine requirement makes a big difference.
"If they’re sure that everyone’s vaccinated, including all the crew, then I think they’re in pretty good shape," he said. "Obviously people can get breakthrough infections in ports of call and stuff like that. But we know from nursing homes outbreaks that when everyone’s vaccinated, the risk becomes very, very low."
But some Grand Princess passengers and family members of those who died say they are not sure if ships will ever be totally safe.
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