CDC Recommends Travelers Defer All Cruise Ship Travel

UNDATED -- The Center for Disease Control is recommending travelers, particularly those with underlying health issues, defer all cruise ship travel worldwide.

Cruise ship passengers are at increased risk of person-to-person spread of infection diseases, including COVID-19.

Meanwhile, federal and state officials in California were preparing to receive thousands of people from a cruise ship that has been idling off the coast of San Francisco with at least 21 people aboard infected with the coronavirus.

Personnel covered head to toe in protective gear Monday were waking up passengers on the Grand Princess to check whether they were sick.

Fences were being installed at an 11-acre site at the port as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk the more than 2,400 passengers to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine.

If you were on a cruise in the past 14 days the CDC recommends you monitor your health and limit interactions with others for 14 days after returning to the United States.  If a case of COVID-19 was reported on your ship during the cruise, stay home during these 14 days and practice social distancing.

The U.S. death toll from the virus reached at least 21 and the number of cases worldwide soared above 110,000.