The Centers for Disease Control released the results of their initial investigation of COVID-19 among crew members onboard the Diamond Princess.
Diamond Princess is the Princess Cruises ship that was quarantined for many weeks near Japan, and became a focal point of the initial coronavirus outbreak.
The CDC released their early findings that COVID-19 was likely first spread from passengers to crew members and subsequently spread among the crew, especially among food service workers.
The report identified the crew dining area on Diamond Princess as a "primary area of congregation for the crew." As such, the infected food workers that prepared food for other crew members, were a primary source of spreading infections to other crew.
Infection had apparently spread among persons whose cabins were on the same deck (deck 3) and who worked in the same occupational group (food service), probably through contact or droplet spread, which is consistent with current understanding of COVID-19 transmission.
The result of the investigation concludes the need for swift epidemiologic investigation as soon as a COVID-19 case is detected in an area or group where a large number of persons gather in a closed or crowded setting (e.g., a cruise ship, music club, health care setting, sports arena, or gymnasium).
Matt Hochberg
Matt loves to cruise, and started Cruise.Blog as a place to share different cruise experiences, advice, and what to know before going on a cruise.
He lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters, where he can be found on any given day trying to convince his wife they "need" to book another cruise.
