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MSC shipping company attracts medical personnel to cruise ships

2022-01-07T15:56:22.748Z


In the middle of the corona wave, doctors or employees of health authorities should book a boat trip at a special price. The Federal Foreign Office is currently explicitly warning against this type of vacation.


Enlarge image

The cruise ship "MSC Grandiosa" with corona-positive people on board in the port of Civitavecchia, Italy, on January 4, 2022

Photo: Cecilia Fabiano / dpa

Well meant, but not well timed: In the midst of the next wave of pandemics, the Swiss shipping company MSC is luring urgently needed medical staff such as nurses, doctors and laboratory workers to cruise ships with discounts of up to 50 percent.

Even firefighters or employees of health authorities are being wooed to take advantage of the discount for the "Corona heroes of the health sector".

MSC does not want to give exact figures on request, but since the offer is "very attractive", it is asked for "very good".

The discount offer falls into a critical phase of the pandemic.

In view of the new Omikron variant, there is a growing fear that many employees in the critical infrastructure in particular could be absent at the same time.

Lots of corona cases on cruise ships

Recently there have been massive coronavirus outbreaks on many cruise ships, including those from MSC.

Aida or TUI Cruises had to cancel trips.

It is true that the industry had developed security concepts: Passengers are tested both before and during the journey.

Some ships even have PCR analysis machines to evaluate coronavirus tests.

In the event of a proven infection, there are special isolation protocols and separate areas on the ships.

The shipping company Aida recently increased its efforts again.

For example, shore leave only takes place as part of guided excursions, and childcare is not available on many ships.

Almost all shipping companies operate with reduced passenger numbers.

Nevertheless, more and more cruises are becoming public on which crew members or passengers have tested positive for Corona.

In Brazil, all cruise traffic was interrupted due to numerous corona cases on board ships.

The US health authority CDC set its travel warning for cruises to the highest corona warning level.

The Federal Foreign Office also explicitly warns against cruises.

There is a risk »that in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak on board - including among vaccinated travelers - the authorities abroad will impose a ship quarantine for several days.

A prompt return transport to Germany would therefore be ruled out «.

Excluded from this warning are, in addition to certain river cruises, those cruises whose voyage begins in a port in Germany and ends again in a port in Germany without docking in a foreign port.

In the cruise industry, some are unjustly pilloried.

There it says that so much is being done in hardly any other area and that with other forms of vacation, corona infections may simply go undetected, which would be detected by the test strategy during a cruise.

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2022-01-07

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