The State Department on Sunday advised U.S. citizens not to take a cruise during the global coronavirus crisis. On Monday, a federal official appeared
to soften that position.
In a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Anthony
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, answered
a question about what Americans should do if they had planned a spring break
cruise.
“I think if you’re a healthy, young person, there’s no
reason, if you want to go on a cruise ship, not to go on a cruise ship,” Fauci
said.
He added, “The fact is that if you have the conditions that
I’ve been speaking about … an individual who has an underlying condition,
particularly an elderly person that has underlying conditions, I would
recommend strongly that they do not go on a cruise ship.”
Fauci was immediately followed by Vice President Mike Pence,
who said officials were expecting a proposal Tuesday and expecting new safety
and health protocols by the cruise lines, including processes for evacuating
people who might be diagnosed with Covid-19.
“I know the president was grateful that our cruise line
leadership stepped up to the table, they said they’re ready to go to the next
level,” he said. “We’ll be reviewing that proposal tomorrow, with the objective
that apart from the Americans that Dr. Fauci just described -- seniors with
serious underlying conditions – we’re going to work with the cruise industry to
improve the safety, improve the health environment on cruise lines in the short
term and the long term.”
The State Department notification on March 8, said that U.S.
citizens, particularly those with underlying health conditions, should not
cruise.
During the briefing, President Trump said that he would be
meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday to discuss payroll tax relief and
meeting with the Small Business Administration to create loans for small
businesses.
“We’re working with the airline industry, the cruise ship
industry -- which obviously will be hit, we’re working with them very, very
strongly -- we want them to travel, we want people to travel to certain
locations and not to other locations at this moment, and hopefully that will
straighten out sooner rather than later,” he said. “But we’re working with the
industries, in particular those two industries. We’re also talking to the hotel
industry.”