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(CNN) -
One of the largest cruise ships operating in the Mediterranean became the most recently affected by a covid-19 outbreak amid the current global increase in infections.
MSC Cruises confirmed that 45 passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 disembarked from their MSC Grandiosa ship in the Italian port of Genoa on Monday, less than 1% of those on board.
The ship was carrying 4,813 passengers and crew members on a round trip from Civitavecchia to Rome, with scheduled stops in Malta and Barcelona over the New Year.
All MSC Cruises crew members and passengers over the age of 12 must be fully vaccinated, while all travelers over the age of 2 must submit a negative COVID test prior to departure.
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In a statement provided to CNN, MSC Cruises denied Italian media reports of a much higher number of positive COVID cases on board.
The cruise company said that the identification and removal of sick passengers demonstrated that its health and safety protocol - which also includes the use of masks in interior public areas - was working.
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MSC Cruises noted that the positive passengers and their close contacts were "immediately isolated in staterooms with balconies."
"In accordance with protocol, we organize transportation back home, all in line with health and other relevant authorities," the MSC Cruises statement said.
The crew members aboard the MSC Grandiosa are said to have been tested every other day, while the passengers were tested at the beginning and mid-voyage.
The passengers also underwent tests at the end of the trip.
MSC Grandiosa continued her journey after disembarking and is scheduled to return to Rome on Tuesday.
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In the summer of 2020, MSC Grandiosa was the first cruise ship to return to the Mediterranean after the global shutdown of the multi-million dollar cruise industry in spring 2020.
Since then, cruise ships have also resumed in the US market, and cruise companies around the world have continued to enforce health and safety requirements on board, and have updated regulations as circumstances have changed.
The goal, as a spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the industry body that represents the world's leading cruise companies, told CNN Travel in December, is not to stop the virus from getting on board, but to control its impact.
"Recognizing that COVID will inevitably continue to occur given the nature of a pandemic, our members developed protocols designed to prevent, detect and mitigate COVID-19 in a cruise ship environment," said the CLIA spokesperson.
Cruise lines also hoped to avoid the chaos that ensued in the spring of 2020, when ships affected by the virus were turned away at ports.
However, after a wave of positive cases aboard cruise ships around the world in recent weeks, some ships affected by the virus were denied entry to ports, such as the Carnival Freedom ship, which Carnival Cruise confirmed Line, was turned away from the Caribbean islands of Bonaire and Aruba in December.
And on December 30, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised the risk level of cruise travel to its highest level and said it should be avoided. regardless of vaccination status.
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The measure "reflects the increase in cases aboard cruise ships since the identification of the omicron variant," says the CDC website.
"Since the identification of the omicron variant, there has been an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among cruise passengers and crew that were reported to the CDC. Additionally, the number of cruise ships meeting the threshold increased. of covid-19 cases for CDC investigation, "the agency said.
The CLIA expressed disappointment at the CDC's high level of risk.
"The CDC's decision to raise the level of risk for cruise ships is especially puzzling when you consider that the cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very small minority of the total population on board - much less than on land - and that most of these cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, which implies little or no burden on medical resources on board or ashore, "the sector body said in a statement last week.
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