Two cruise ships hit by coronavirus weeks after industry restarts

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/03/two-cruise-ships-hit-by-coronavirus-weeks-after-industry-restarts
<snip>
At least 40 passengers and crew from the MS Roald Amundsen have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and authorities are trying to contact trace hundreds of passengers from two recent Arctic voyages the ship took.

Four crew members on the MS Roald Amundsen were hospitalised on Friday when the ship arrived at the Norwegian port of Tromsø, and later diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Tests showed another 32 of the 158 staff were also infected.

But 178 passengers were allowed to leave the ship in Tromsø, triggering a complex operation to locate them in order to contain any potential spread.

So far, four of the 387 passengers who travelled on the ship on two separate cruises since 17 July have been found to carry the virus, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) and the Tromsoe municipality said.

“We expect that more infections will be found in connection to this outbreak,” Line Vold, a senior FHI executive, said. Passengers have been told to self-isolate.
========================
How effin' stupid and irresponsible are these people?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. And McConnell's Senate is giving our unemployment stipends to cruiselines.

This truly is Bizarro World.

[Sherman A1]

2. The level of stupid

in restarting cruise ship voyages during a pandemic is simply beyond the pale.

[sop]

5. Almost as stupid as forcing schools to reopen.

[central scrutinizer]

8. No refund policy?

I think some of those operators have no refund clauses in the fine print. Maybe people who booked cruises months ago decided to take the risk rather than lose their money. Poor calculation of risk/reward.

[brush]

21. Yes, and it's only matched by that of anyone who would go on a cruise...

ship right now—also known as pandemic incubators.

[Iliyah]

3. OMG . . .

Controlling COVID-19 is getting harder and harder. Why? Because the world, especially shithole and the republican party are obstructing any recovery efforts. Damn.

Ya think the cruise lines would know better but alas it is all about MONEY.

[soothsayer]

4. People need to stop acting as though things are fine

Can we please stop the spread first?

[SoonerPride]

23. Exactly!

People want so badly to go back to living life like they did in the before times without having to put in the effort to earn it.

It is lazy, selfish, and stupid.

Or in other words, the typical American.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. I just don't get it

I realize cruises are a big industry, but who is paying to go on them right now? You couldn't pay me to go on a cruise right now.

Are people really this desperate to go on a cruise? There's thousands of other vacation ideas that aren't cruises, or how about during a global pandemic that will kill millions you have a staycation? It's like people are frantic to go do something that is totally not necessary.

[malaise]

7. Truth be told - you couldn't pay me to go on a cruise in the best of times

if the entire planet had shut down for two months from say March to May, everyone would be better off now. When money matters more than life, we end up in this effin' mess.

[cornball 24]

9. I have never understood the affinity for cruises. The unvarnished truth that

money matters more than life here has turned us into a real "shit hole" country.

[malaise]

10. It is frightening to watch

and I mean that.

[Johnny2X2X]

12. US getting crushed because we had no social safety net

Our Congress is having to pass huge relief packages to make sure people won't be homeless and hungry. Most of the rest of the world didn't have to do this because they already have a robust social safety net that was in place and just had to have some more money pumped into it to absorb the new people who needed help. In the US it's expected that if you lose your job your whole life is ruined.

[malaise]

15. The USA and many other countries will have to resolve a serous question

-society or market? Sensible countries balance both with relative ease.
The USA practices vulture capitalism and carcasses are everywhere now.

[Johnny2X2X]

18. My company is case in point

We laid off 13,000 people permanently in the US, just like that, boom. We have offices in the UK slated for layoffs too, but in the UK the government won't let you just throw workers out on the street like that, there's a longer process to go through, it will give those workers a 6 month buffer before we can let them go and then there are all types of limitations on what we can do as a company. For instance, we cant lay off a bunch of people in the UK and then give bonuses to execs there.

I don't think American workers have a clue how much more protections for workers are in place in most Western Democracies. In the US they want to make it as painful as possible for workers so they'll take lower paying jobs just to put food on the table. And that's what the GOP stance is all about, they want highly paid workers who lost their jobs to be forced to take less money. Cheap labor.

[lindysalsagal]

13. What? 5000 people trapped together, no land in sight?

cooking meals for 5000, 4 times a day, getting drunk nightly, doesn't sound good to you?

I can jog and use my own weights at home. Thank you very much. You'll never get me on one of those floating viral hotels. I'll find a lovely beach I can stroll, if I want ocean breezes.

[malaise]

16. I just don't want to be locked away with thousands of strangers for days

with no escape other than a bedroom. That's not for me.

[underpants]

14. Me either

Once you get on the boat you lose some control and freedom. If it’s a friend’s sailboat that’s one thing but the big boat? No thanks. If I want to get off I want to get off.

Aside from them clearly being Petri dishes. You can’t give me enough shrimp or rum to make up for that.

[malaise]

17. We think alike

What happens when I want to escape

[underpants]

20. Fishing boat in the Outer Banks

We and another couple had already paid a whopping $30 each to go on a fishing ship. Not a private charter - tons of people. As we decided if we should go I look out into the ocean like Chief Brody. I could see the rain. I knew better.

The back of the boat was where the people who were seasick stayed with their ginger ale and saltine crackers. Miserable. No turning the boat around for them. I think the whole thing was 4 hours long. Watching those people - it was also the smoking area - god I felt for them.

[malaise]

22. One of my BILs rented a boat with a small crew and we went on a family

fishing trip in Florida - that was fun. You will never ever see me on a cruise.

[underpants]

11. Yeah it's a lifestyle thing like Disney

I know a couple of people who go to Disney at least once a year usually twice.

We have some friends who are cruise regulars but I’m pretty sure they haven’t recently from what I can tell. I don’t get it at all - yeah it’s fun I guess with food and drink and sun. I can think of tons of other places or things I would prefer. There have just been too many instances of illnesses spreading through even before this mess.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Self-control, people!

Good grief, hold off on some of your "entertainment" for awhile!