​Royal Caribbean Group Issues Covid-19 Update

An update on the impact of the latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron, has been provided by the Royal Caribbean Group, the parent company of a handful of the world’s leading cruise lines.
 
The cruise giant stated that more infectious variant has caused significant problems, leading to cruise booking cancellations and disruption for the company. Ormicron is becoming the dominant strain in many countries around the world.

In a statement provided by Royal Caribbean Group, the company said: “Fortunately, Omicron also appears to cause significantly less severe symptoms than earlier variants, especially for people who are vaccinated. Cruising remains one of the few places one can vacation knowing that almost everyone you meet is fully vaccinated”.
 
Since June 2021, the Royal Caribbean Group has carried 1.1 million guests with a total of 1,745 people testing positive from Covid-19 – a positivity rate of 0.02%. The vast majority of cases had no symptoms or only mild symptoms, with only 41 people needing to go to hospital. As of yet none of the Omicron cases have been severe or resulted in hospitalizations.
 
All passengers are required to show a negative Covid-19 test before boarding any cruise ship in the group’s global fleet.
 
Richard Fain, Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Group, said: "We are constantly learning and adjusting as Omicron appears to be ushering in a new phase in the fight against COVID-19. We expect these factors to have a negative impact in the short term but are optimistic they will lead us to a more pervasive but less severe health environment. Taken together, this should enable us to produce a strong transitional year in 2022 and a very strong 2023”.