Clia Brasil, an association that represents cruise ship companies in the country, announced this Thursday (13) that it will extend the suspension of new operations in Brazilian ports until February 4, due to the registration of cases of Covid-19. on board.
The decision comes a day after Anvisa recommended to the government the definitive interruption of the ship season in the country due to the increase in Covid records, driven by the omicron variant.
On January 3, Clia Brasil had announced the suspension of new operations until the 21st of this month.
The government authorized in October 2021 the resumption of cruises, despite Anvisa’s contrary opinion. The 2021-2022 season started in early November.
In the technical note, Anvisa stated that 1,177 cases of Covid were detected among crew and passengers of five cruise ships that operated in Brazil from November to the first week of January. Of the total infections, 1,146 were confirmed from December 26 to January 6 alone.
An ordinance from the Ministry of Health, in force since the end of October last year, defines four epidemiological levels for waterway transport trips and protocols to be followed. Higher tiers have tougher restrictions, such as quarantining a vessel, and are defined by criteria such as the number of infections recorded.
In the first week of 2022, passengers reported, on social media, lack of food and cleaning on cruises that had activities interrupted by the Covid outbreak.
Clia states, in a note, that the decision to extend the suspension “aims to continue discussions with the competent authorities in order to align the necessary measures for the resumption of cruises”, but that it contrasts with the “positive evolution in the States States, where health authorities have recognized the effectiveness of industry protocols.”
Among the protocols adopted in Brazil, the association says that “complete vaccination cycle, presentation of a negative test before boarding, use of a mask” is required. And that the ships operate with less occupancy, in addition to carrying out continuous testing “of at least 10% of the people on board and crew”.
The association also stated that the cruise season was expected to attract more than 360,000 tourists, with an impact of R$ 1.7 billion.
JOELMIR TAVARES (interim), with LÍGIA MESQUITA, BIANKA VIEIRA e MANOELLA SMITH
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