A Concerning Thought on Cruise Covid Testing

[tvguy]

Actually all the tests are pretty unreliable with both false positives and false negatives. I know people who were sick with Covid and it took multiple tests to return a positive result. Testing and temperature checks are primarily medical theater to make you feel something is being done to protect you. Yes, they are working on a saliva test in conjunction with the NFL but it’s not ready yet.

No argument there.

 

[randumb0]

Let's assume cruising resumes with more accurate rapid tests. What does this mean for those that reach the cruise port via shuttle or bus?

 

[onesam319]

The part that's concerning is the person travelled to the port on a van. Not only was the positive test not allowed to board, but so was everyone else that was in the van. I'm not against this move as I think it protects everyone on the ship. It just made me think of the number of people that fly into Orlando and travel to the port via van or Disney bus. Would the entire Disney bus not be allowed to board if someone tests positive?

What if someone flies into Orlando and a positive case is found on the flight and then contact tracing informs the cruise line?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Let's assume cruising resumes with more accurate rapid tests. What does this mean for those that reach the cruise port via shuttle or bus?

I suppose the thought is that the initial test would be administered prior to boarding the shuttle or bus.

 

[soniam]

Which would be sad, since there are those of use who have had chronic coughs for years that are certainly not COVID related.

Not to mention those of us who have allergies and pretty much constant nasal congestion, and I take 2 allergy medications and use a neti pot twice a day. I hate when the questionnaires try to ping Covid on you and your only symptom is nasal congestion. I live in the allergy capital of the US. I dare you to find someone here who doesn't have nasal congestion 75% of the year, including in winter

 

[Uncleromulus]

Which would be sad, since there are those of us who have had chronic coughs for years that are certainly not COVID related.

Of course--but today it will be deemed "Virus" not matter what the cause..that's how paranoid many folks are.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Not to mention those of us who have allergies and pretty much constant nasal congestion, and I take 2 allergy medications and use a neti pot twice a day. I hate when the questionnaires try to ping Covid on you and your only symptom is nasal congestion. I live in the allergy capital of the US. I dare you to find someone here who doesn't have nasal congestion 75% of the year, including in winter

But in today's paranoid society, it will be deemed Virus no matter what it is-----

 

[AquaDame]

My first gut reaction when I heard that was 'welp, not taking the bus again' but honestly if being in close quarters with a busload of people causes issues we aren't ready to cruise yet.

Not to mention those of us who have allergies and pretty much constant nasal congestion, and I take 2 allergy medications and use a neti pot twice a day. I hate when the questionnaires try to ping Covid on you and your only symptom is nasal congestion. I live in the allergy capital of the US. I dare you to find someone here who doesn't have nasal congestion 75% of the year, including in winter

But in today's paranoid society, it will be deemed Virus no matter what it is-----

If they're testing I don't think people will be so quick to judge. I also live in a high allergen area and no one bats an eye at at red eyes or sniffles during 3/4 of the year - telling someone it's just allergies is a solemn act here.

I'm also curious how many questionaires you're having to take..? Around here you're just asked verbally if you've felt ill or had a fever in the last two weeks and/or have you had any contact with a CONFIRMED covid case before they take your forehead temp.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My first gut reaction when I heard that was 'welp, not taking the bus again' but honestly if being in close quarters with a busload of people causes issues we aren't ready to cruise yet.




If they're testing I don't think people will be so quick to judge. I also live in a high allergen area and no one bats an eye at at red eyes or sniffles during 3/4 of the year - telling someone it's just allergies is a solemn act here.

I'm also curious how many questionaires you're having to take..? Around here you're just asked verbally if you've felt ill or had a fever in the last two weeks and/or have you had any contact with a CONFIRMED covid case before they take your forehead temp.

My experience at the dentist was a one page questionnaire I had to fill out with "do you have any of a bunch of symptoms, have you been in contact with anyone with COVID, have you been COVID tested", and then the temperature taking. Once in the exam room, the dentist then came in and asked me all the same questions again, checking them off on the same sheet of paper.

Going to medical lab for blood work, they stop you at the door to the building, and ask all those same questions before doing the temperature check.

 

[soniam]

My first gut reaction when I heard that was 'welp, not taking the bus again' but honestly if being in close quarters with a busload of people causes issues we aren't ready to cruise yet.

If they're testing I don't think people will be so quick to judge. I also live in a high allergen area and no one bats an eye at at red eyes or sniffles during 3/4 of the year - telling someone it's just allergies is a solemn act here.

I'm also curious how many questionaires you're having to take..? Around here you're just asked verbally if you've felt ill or had a fever in the last two weeks and/or have you had any contact with a CONFIRMED covid case before they take your forehead temp.

People here generally understand allergies too. Until Covid, I never thought twice about someone coughing or sniffling.

I have had to answer questionnaires for any and every in-person doctors/dentist/oral surgeon appointment, including answering for my son for his since he's a minor, and to get into my office building to get the rest of the stuff from my cube (been working from home since mid-March). It's really annoying for my son's orthodontist appointment every month. I just answer these things reasonably, since we have really been monitoring ourselves and taking our temps. Also, technically, everyone was supposed to ask themselves similar questions before entering WDW and Universal Orlando. My gym and yoga studio had a similar self-ask questionnaire.

 

[pfp258]

And keep in mind that a COVID test is only good at the time you take it. If you test negative you would essentially have to not leave the testing site so as not come into contact with any other person. As my Doctor shared with me, you can test negative, leave the site, ride the elevator down with someone else and potentially have them cough/sneeze and infect you just minutes after your negative test.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Well now that there’s a person out there that got it twice in 4 1/2 months. This changes things a little. It might change our lives with regard to vaccines, masks, no mask with shot....
A month ago they said the vaccine was only good for three months, I have no idea if that’s the same timeline a month later.
A valid and reliable Covid test might be the way of the future, this plus, some contact tracing until elimination. What a time in which we live.

 

[monkeydawn]

I still give ALL coughers a wider than 6 ft berth. If a cougher is a maskhole then I will just leave. It isnt that the cough necessarily means that person has COVID but coughs expel whatever cooties you may have further than just breathing and talking at a normal volume. That cougher could be asymptomatic positive, with the cough not having anything to do with the COVID but that cough is still a vector for spreading the virus.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Those days are over. That was at the beginning when we were trying to keep the virus out of the country. Well the cat's out of the bag, a little late for that now. With 70,000 positive U.S. cases per day, a few positive cases showing up from a cruise is hardly overwhelming and would actually be on par with those percentages catching it on land as well. When the recent Alaska UnCruise had positive cases (that later turned out to be false positives) they were allowed to dock and disembark.

But they were also moved to quarantine and not permitted to leave the state.

 

[T & R]

But they were also moved to quarantine and not permitted to leave the state.

Which is not being stranded on the ship and is what should be done with any person infected with a potentially deadly virus, regardless if they caught it on land or at sea. Testing works, it's what you do about the positive tests that matters.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Which is not being stranded on the ship and is what should be done with any person infected with a potentially deadly virus, regardless if they caught it on land or at sea. Testing works, it's what you do about the positive tests that matters.

I think the challenge is that when dealing with unCruise you had 36 passengers to quarantine, at most needing 18 hotel rooms.

On a Big Ship, how many passengers become subject to quarantine when debarking? How many units will be required for their isolation?

And, of course, the larger scale issue of needing to cancel the next cruise due to the crew isolation and how many people would be arriving for that cruise?

So I am mostly thinking the logistics increase in complexity when dealing with a big ship.

 

[T & R]

think the challenge is that when dealing with unCruise you had 36 passengers to quarantine, at most needing 18 hotel rooms.

On a Big Ship, how many passengers become subject to quarantine when debarking? How many units will be required for their isolation?

And, of course, the larger scale issue of needing to cancel the next cruise due to the crew isolation and how many people would be arriving for that cruise?

So I am mostly thinking the logistics increase in complexity when dealing with a big ship.

We can come up with how we can or keep being the why we can't. If the why we can'ts wins, there will be no cruise company's left in business. Testing works, it's what you do about the positive tests that matters. In my state, if you test positive, you're allowed to just go home and go about your business and go out to eat at Chilli's or pick up some cat food at Walmart or put your little Covid spreading hands on the gas pump at the gas station. There's nothing done about quarantining a person who is a land based Covid spreader. Now on the UnCruise, a single person had a false positive test and they quarantined everyone on the ship and there were news stories demonizing cruising. Why such different treatment than land based spreaders? Perhaps this is why we're losing the war. If a single person catches Covid on land, nothing is done to quarantine that single person but if a single person catches covid on a ship, we must quarantine everyone and generate negative media on how the resumption of cruising will be the end of the world. Makes no sense. A person who tests positive on land should be treated no different than a person who tests positive at sea. There should be no exceptions or exemptions because the virus does not respect loopholes. I do not get the acceptance of such a giant double standard and I especially do not get it from a crowd that is supposed to be pro-cruising. If I am wrong then how do we explain 70,000+ positive U.S. cases per day when there is no cruising to point the finger at? The out of control spread is due to the fact that land based businesses are not scrutinized anywhere close to cruise based and so the consequence is out of control spread. You cannot make exceptions because the virus does not follow our rules.

 

[MomOTwins]

We can come up with how we can or keep being the why we can't. If the why we can'ts wins, there will be no cruise company's left in business. Testing works, it's what you do about the positive tests that matters. In my state, if you test positive, you're allowed to just go home and go about your business and go out to eat at Chilli's or pick up some cat food at Walmart or put your little Covid spreading hands on the gas pump at the gas station. There's nothing done about quarantining a person who is a land based Covid spreader. Now on the UnCruise, a single person had a false positive test and they quarantined everyone on the ship and there were news stories demonizing cruising. Why such different treatment than land based spreaders? Perhaps this is why we're losing the war. If a single person catches Covid on land, nothing is done to quarantine that single person but if a single person catches covid on a ship, we must quarantine everyone and generate negative media on how the resumption of cruising will be the end of the world. Makes no sense. A person who tests positive on land should be treated no different than a person who tests positive at sea. There should be no exceptions or exemptions because the virus does not respect loopholes. I do not get the acceptance of such a giant double standard and I especially do not get it from a crowd that is supposed to be pro-cruising. If I am wrong then how do we explain 70,000+ positive U.S. cases per day when there is no cruising to point the finger at? The out of control spread is due to the fact that land based businesses are not scrutinized anywhere close to cruise based and so the consequence is out of control spread. You cannot make exceptions because the virus does not follow our rules.

We do have land quarantines in our state and there are penalties for breaking it. I do agree though that there is a double standard because what I saw at WDW two weeks ago seemed every bit as risky as a cruise. I suspect the hurdle for cruising has more to do with the fact the lack of hospital access at sea if people do get seriously ill onboard.

 

[AquaDame]

A person who tests positive on land should be treated no different than a person who tests positive at sea.

I agree, but I think it's the way the land based cases are being treated that need to change. If you KNOW you have covid, you should absolutely quarantine yourself. It shouldn't be a question. If we can't trust each other to do the right thing when cost is low (just have to stay home for a couple weeks) then we certainly will never be able to trust people to cancel their cruise and lose $ to do the right thing either.

 

[T & R]

I suspect the hurdle for cruising has more to do with the fact the lack of hospital access at sea if people do get seriously ill onboard.

I agree which is why I believe the 3 and 4 nighters will be the ones to start up first. It would be almost impossible in just 3 days for Covid to progress from such a low viral count that you test negative to get onboard and then within 3 days you're in a condition requiring hospitalization. Covid just isn't that fast. Also, as far as the no hospital access at sea, that risk is always present with or without Covid and chances are much higher and much more likely of a person requiring hospitalization from any number of things other than Covid. That's just a risk we accept when we go to sea.