Ruby Princess cruise ship reports 37 coronavirus cases after docking in San Francisco – San Francisco Chronicle

The April 23 trip ended in San Francisco after a 7-day trip along the Pacific Northwest coast with stops in Astoria, Ore., Seattle and Vancouver; the April 11 trip was a 5-day voyage along the West Coast with stops in San Diego and Ensenada, Baja California-Mexico; and the March 27 trip ended in San Francisco after a 15-day Panama Canal cruise, according to a cruise planning site, CruiseMapper, and cruise line officials. The ship can carry more than 3,000 passengers and 2,100 crew members.

The CDC’s dashboard that tracks COVID-19 cases recorded at participating cruise ships operating in United States waters indicates that the agency has “started an investigation” into the cases aboard the Ruby Princess and said the ship “remains under observation.”

Officials with the CDC could not be reached on Thursday afternoon. The CDC uses what it calls an “investigation threshold” to determine when an investigation is needed, based off of the number of reported coronavirus cases aboard cruise ships.

Officials with Princess Cruises — which owns and operates the Ruby Princess — told The Chronicle in a statement that the CDC has “not requested additional information for Ruby Princess” in connection with the coronavirus cases.

“Covid has unfortunately become a part of normal life, and Princess, along with the entire cruise industry, continues to operate with measures that exceed any other commercial setting,” Princess Cruises officials said. “Because those established cruise health protocols work, there have been no outbreaks on board.”

Cruise officials added that “In the rare occasions” when coronavirus cases are reported, testing protocols are in place to “help to maximize onboard containment with rapid response procedures designed to safeguard all other guests and crew as well as the communities our ships visit.”

San Francisco public health officials said that cruise operations at city ports have been in “strict compliance” with all CDC rules and regulations, in addition to San Francisco’s own protocols and procedures.

As part of a memoranda of agreement for all vessels docking in San Francisco, city health officials said that 95% of the crew and passengers disembarking in the city are required to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus “in order to decrease the risk of severe illness among cruise passengers arriving” into the city. Cruise lines also report the number of confirmed and suspected coronavirus cases to the health department 24 hours before they’re expected arrival at the Port of San Francisco, health officials said.

The Ruby Princess’ vaccination rate for the trip that docked in San Francisco on April 23 was 100% for the crew and 99% for guests, public health officials said. For the ship’s April 11 trip, the ship had a 100% vaccination rate for both crew and guests.

One person aboard the April 11 trip required hospitalization, a figure that public health officials said “speaks to the incredible efficacy of vaccination.”

Traveling on cruise ships “will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission,” CDC officials said on the webpage, adding that public health measures like wearing masks, and getting tested and vaccinated against the coronavirus will play a crucial role in reducing the spread of the coronavirus.