The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended its no sail order for cruise ships through the end of September.
The original order was put in place on March 13 and has since been extended twice. The order bans cruising in U.S. waters until at least Oct. 1. The order had been set to expire on July 24. It now expires September 30th.
The no sail order was put in place because the CDC director believed that cruise ship travel would continue to introduce, transmit and spread COVID-19.
In its executive summary, the order notes that CDC data shows a total of 2,973 Covid-19 or Covid-like cases of illness aboard cruise ships, in addition to 34 deaths, between March 1 and July 10. “These data have also revealed a total of 99 outbreaks on 123 different cruise ships, meaning that 80% of ships within US jurisdiction were affected by Covid-19 during this timeframe,” the summary reads.
Disney Cruise Line has not announced any plans to resume operations yet.