[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44083-44085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15812]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2020-0087]


Request for Information Related to Cruise Ship Planning and 
Infrastructure, Resumption of Passenger Operations, and Summary 
Questions

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a 
component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 
announces a Request for Information related to cruise ship planning and 
infrastructure, resumption of passenger operations, and additional 
summary questions. This information may be used to inform future public 
health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise 
ships.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 21, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-
0087 by any of the following methods listed below. CDC does not accept 
comment by email.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Maritime Unit, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS V18-2, Atlanta, GA 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted 
without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. For access to the docket to read background 
documents or comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Buigut, Division of Global 
Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
1600 Clifton Road NE, MS V18-2, Atlanta, GA 30329. Phone: 404-498-1600. 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased risk of 
spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships, HHS/CDC published an industry-wide 
No Sail Order on March 14, 2020, to, among other things, restrict the 
embarkation of cruise ships. CDC extended its No Sail Order, effective 
April 15, 2020, to require cruise lines, as a condition of obtaining 
controlled free pratique to operate in international, interstate, or 
intrastate waterways subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
States,\1\ to develop appropriate plans to prevent, mitigate, and 
respond to the spread of COVID-19 on their cruise ships. Elsewhere in 
this issue of the Federal Register, CDC is publishing a companion 
notice announcing a further extension of the ``No Sail Order and 
Suspension of Further Embarkation; Second Modification and Extension of 
No Sail Order and Other Measures Related to Operations.'' This Request 
for Information requests comments from the public that will be used to 
inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating 
to travel on cruise ships.
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    \1\ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/15/2020-07930/no-sail-order-and-suspension-of-further-embarkation-notice-of-modification-and-extension-and-other.
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Public Participation

    Interested persons or organizations are invited to participate by 
submitting comments specifically on the following questions related to 
planning and infrastructure, resumption of passenger operations, and 
summary questions raised in this document:

Planning and Infrastructure

    1. Given the challenges of eliminating COVID-19 on board cruise 
ships while operating with reduced crew on board during the period of 
the April 15, 2020 No Sail Order Extension, what methods, strategies, 
and practices should cruise ship operators implement to prevent COVID-
19 transmission when operating with passengers?
    2. How should cruise ship operators bolster their internal public 
health programs with public health experts and invest in a robust 
public health infrastructure to ensure compliance with measures to 
detect, prevent, and control the spread of COVID-19?
    3. How should cruise ship operators ensure internal public health 
programs

[[Page 44084]]

are involved in all levels of decision-making processes relating to 
passenger and crew operations, crew welfare and mental health, 
occupational health, food safety, potable and recreational water 
safety, outbreak prevention and management response, and illness 
surveillance?
    4. What is the feasibility of conducting COVID-19 diagnostic 
testing using FDA-approved or authorized laboratory tests on board a 
cruise ship?
    a. Should specimens be tested on board or should specimens be 
collected on board for commercial testing onshore?
    b. How frequently should cruise ship operators test all passengers 
and crew?
    c. What would be the anticipated financial cost of testing all 
passengers and crew?
    5. Because reports of illness may lead to restrictions on crew 
activities, how should cruise ship operators encourage crew members to 
report mild symptoms of COVID-like illness to medical personnel?
    a. How should cruise ship operators encourage medical personnel to 
report these cases to CDC?
    6. What should be the medical capacity to manage an outbreak or a 
severe case of COVID-19 on board the ship?
    a. What arrangements should cruise ship operators have with private 
companies to transport and obtain medical care shoreside for passengers 
and crew with severe COVID-19?
    7. What pre-arrangements should be made to ensure that all U.S. 
seaport communities will accept a returning ship after a COVID-19 
outbreak is identified?
    8. What plans should cruise ship operators have for 
operationalizing shoreside quarantine facilities in the event of a 
COVID-19 outbreak on board a ship, without exposing the public and 
without relying on Federal, State, or local resources?
    9. Due to obstacles with commercial travel thus far, what pre-
arrangements should cruise ship operators make with the airline 
industry to accept crew and passengers from ships not affected by 
COVID-19?
    10. How should cruise ship operators address specific country 
travel restrictions that emerge as COVID-19 activity increases in 
geographical areas, such as
    a. border closures preventing passengers and crew from 
repatriating?
    b. seaport closures preventing porting of ships?
    c. embarking passengers originating from countries with heightened 
COVID-19 activity?
    11. What measures should cruise ship operators be required to take 
to reduce the burden on U.S. government resources if foreign seaports 
deny cruise ships the ability to come into port during a voyage?
    12. Given difficulties cruise ship operators have experienced when 
repatriating crew via non-commercial transportation, what preparations 
should the industry make to repatriate passengers or crew via non-
commercial transportation after COVID-19 is identified on board?
    13. What innovations should cruise ship operators develop to reduce 
transmission of COVID-19 on board ships and how would these innovations 
be effective?
    14. Should cruise ship operators implement other interventions to 
decrease or prevent the spread of COVID-19 on board ships?
    15. What evidence of efficacy or other rationale exists for any 
public health interventions that cruise ship operators propose to take 
on board ships?

Resumption of Passenger Operations

    16. What steps should cruise ship operators take to prevent the 
introduction of COVID-19 onto ships after resuming passenger 
operations?
    a. Should cruise ship operators deny boarding to passengers with 
COVID-like illness or confirmed infection with COVID-19?
    b. Should cruise ship operators deny boarding to passengers with 
known exposure to a person with COVID-19 during the previous 14 days?
    c. What methods should cruise ship operators use to screen for 
exposures and detect COVID-like illness in passengers seeking to board 
the ship?
    d. Should cruise ship operators deny boarding to passengers coming 
from COVID-19 high-incidence geographic areas?
    e. How should cruise ship operators manage embarking crew with 
COVID-like illness, known exposure, or coming from high-incidence 
geographic areas after resuming passenger operations?
    f. Should cruise ship operators test passengers and crew pre-
boarding? If yes, what should the testing protocol be?
    g. Should cruise ship operators transport and house passengers and 
crew denied boarding at the seaport to avoid exposing the public?
    17. Should cruise ship operators plan to reduce passenger and crew 
loads to decrease the risk of transmission on board the ship?
    a. To what extent and for how long should cruise ship operators 
reduce passenger capacity?
    b. To what extent might reducing passenger capacity affect the 
economic viability of cruise lines?
    c. Should cruise ship operators be required to provide scientific 
evidence that reducing passenger capacity will prevent transmission on 
board?
    18. Should cruise ship operators decrease the length of voyages 
and, if so, by how much?
    a. How would decreasing the length of voyages affect the 
transmission of COVID-19 on board the ship and in U.S. communities?
    b. Should cruise ship operators be required to provide scientific 
evidence that reducing length of voyages would decrease the risk of 
further introduction of COVID-19 to U.S. communities?
    19. Should cruise ship operators limit shore excursions?
    a. What precautions should cruise ship operators take during shore 
excursions to prevent passengers and crew from being exposed to COVID-
19?
    b. During shore excursions, how should cruise ship operators 
prevent transmission of COVID-19 into land-based communities?
    20. Should cruise ship operators restrict the number of persons per 
room (e.g., maximum capacity of 2 adults per cabin)?
    a. Should cruise ship operators be required to provide single-
occupancy rooms with private bathrooms for crew after resuming 
passenger operations?
    21. What mental health services should cruise ship operators 
provide to crew and passengers during quarantine or isolation?
    22. What precautions should the cruise line industry take to safely 
disembark passengers and crew without transmitting COVID-19 into local 
seaport communities?
    23. Should the cruise line industry immediately cancel cruise 
voyages if COVID-19 cases are identified on board or after 
disembarkation?
    24. Because of the economic costs associated with cruising, some 
cruise ship passengers may be reluctant to cancel travel plans if they 
become ill or are exposed to COVID-19 or may try to hide symptoms of 
illness. Should cruise ship operators fully refund or provide 
incentives to passengers that:
    a. Are denied boarding due to COVID-like illness symptoms, 
confirmed infection, or known exposure?
    b. are denied boarding due to coming from high-incidence geographic 
areas?
    c. request last-minute cancellations due to COVID-19 concerns?
    25. Due to the costs associated with seeking medical care on board, 
and the likelihood that sick passengers will be isolated and their 
travel companions

[[Page 44085]]

quarantined for the remainder of their voyage, how should cruise ship 
operators encourage passengers to notify the medical center when they 
experience COVID-19 symptoms?
    26. How should cruise ship operators decrease or eliminate the risk 
for COVID-19 transmission for both passengers and crew in the following 
group settings?
    a. Embarkation and disembarkation?
    b. Safety drills and trainings?
    c. Dining?
    d. Onboard entertainment events?
    e. Shore excursions?

Summary Questions

    27. What benefits can be expected in terms of averted deaths and 
illnesses and how does this compare to the expected financial costs of 
the above measures?
    28. Should cruise ship operators be required to designate a 
responsible company official who will accept legal responsibility for 
failure to implement measures to protect public health?
    Please note that comments received, including attachments and other 
supporting materials, are part of the public record and are subject to 
public disclosure. Comments will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, do not include any information in your 
comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or 
inappropriate for public disclosure. If you include your name, contact 
information, or other information that identifies you in the body of 
your comments, that information will be on public display. CDC will 
review all submissions and may choose to redact, or withhold, 
submissions containing private or proprietary information such as 
Social Security numbers, medical information, inappropriate language, 
or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign. CDC will 
carefully consider all comments submitted to this docket. CDC does not 
accept public comment by email.

    Dated: July 16, 2020.
Sandra Cashman,
Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2020-15812 Filed 7-17-20; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P