PARIS - Hopes that the world's cruise industry would be gathering steam again in time for the August holiday month are sinking as some ports remain closed and authorities impose new coronavirus health rules.
Norway then slapped restrictions on popular cruises to its fjords, with a second ship ordered into quarantine."We are ready, we have worked very hard," MSC's chief Gianni Onorato said Tuesday as the firm presented new health and safety measures. Costa Cruises' new guidelines say all passengers are subject to a health check as they board and that "all crew members are subject to daily body temperature checks and their state of health is monitored constantly," according to its website.
"They told me everyone had been tested and all the crew had respected the quarantine rules," the doctor, Karl-Borre Andersen, told Norwegian daily Verdens Gang.And with the novel coronavirus known to spread in confined spaces national authorities have been skittish.