Brazil’s Health Agency recommends definitive suspension of the cruise season

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) recommended yesterday, January 12, the definitive suspension of the cruise ship season in Brazil. The measure was taken after verifying the “exponential increase” of covid-19 cases on these ships, especially among crew members. The recommendation was forwarded to the Ministry of Health and the Civil House.

The agency had been monitoring the contamination cases by covid-19 in this type of vessel, thanks to protocols defined by itself for the operation of ships in the country. According to Anvisa, these protocols were fundamental to identifying a change in the number of cases on board.

On the last day of 2021, the agency recommended the temporary suspension of the cruise season. In the days before the decision, the ship MSC Splendida docked at the Port of Santos, and the ship Costa Diadema, docked in Salvador, interrupted their activities due to outbreaks of covid-19 on board.

Since the temporary suspension, Anvisa had been evaluating the epidemiological scenario and, because of the increase in cases, both in the cruise industry and nationwide, decided to recommend the definitive suspension. “Anvisa understands that the current scenario is unfavorable to the continuity of cruise ship operations. In this sense, based on the precautionary principle and based on all available data, it recommended the definitive suspension of the cruise ship season in Brazil as a necessary action to protect the health of the population,” it said in a statement.

According to the agency, by the 6th, 1,177 positive cases of covid-19 were reported among crew members and passengers, characterizing a steep increase in cases on ships. “This increase can be confirmed by the available data, which report the detection of 31 cases of covid-19 in the initial 55 days of the season (from Nov. 1 to Dec. 25), with a sharp explosion from Dec. 26, having been registered 1,146 cases in just 12 days (from Dec. 26 to 6/1), which represents a 37-fold increase in this period.”

Brazil has been registering a sharp curve in the increase of covid-19 cases. In 24 hours, 87,471 cases of covid-19 were reported. A week ago, the number of positive diagnoses was 27,267 was three times less than the number recorded today. On the last day of 2021, there were 10,282 cases of covid-19 recorded in Brazil in 24 hours.