CDC Ruling Lifted For Cruise Lines Sailing Out of Florida
A Federal Court ruled that pandemic restrictions for Florida-based cruise ships are no longer mandatory under a ruling passed yesterday. However, the CDC has already said that they will fight a lawsuit in Florida that challenges the court’s decision. .
According to a recent piece on Fox35, a three judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a previous ruling passed last week saying that the restrictions could not be imposed in Florida. However, the hold was reversed yesterday.
The Court said that the Center of Disease Control failed to demonstrate an entitlement to put a stay on a pending appeal. This is a victory for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who has publicly argued that the CDC’s multiple-step requirements that need to be meet before cruise lines set sail is too restrictive which could cripple the cruise industry and impact over 150,000 jobs.
Lawyers representing the state of Florida had this to say about the CDC mandates, “The equities overwhelmingly favor allowing the cruise industry to enjoy its first summer season in two years while this Court sorts out the CDC’s contentions on appeal.”
The Centers for Disease Control argued that the rules were put into place to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks on ships resulting in further spread of the COVID-19 virus among unvaccinated individuals. In their court filing, the CDC said, “The undisputed evidence shows that unregulated cruise ship operations would exacerbate the spread of COVID-19, and that the harm to the public that would result from such operations cannot be undone.”
Photo Source: Go Port Canaveral
The mandate from the CDC was put into place on March 2020 which had already affected passengers and crew on several cruise ships. As Fox35 reminds us and as we previously mentioned here at MickeyBlog, the CDC imposed a four-phase reopening framework for cruise lines last October which it said would enable the cruising industry to gradually reopen.
Included in the order were guidelines that needed to me met including allowing the industry to resume operations but only after successful test cruises with a variety of COVID-19 vaccine requirements and preventative measures put into place.
The Federal Court argued that the CDC has no jurisdiction to enforce these requirements and that they should instead be seen as recommendations.
As we reported here at MickeyBlog, several cruise lines have recently started taking steps to resume operations this Summer. Just yesterday, Disney Cruise Line announced that they would resume Bahamian sailings starting on August 9th, marking a major milestone. This comes after Disney held its first simulated sailing on Saturday with a 300 passenger departure out of Port Canaveral that went to Disney’s Castaway Cay in Port Canaveral Florida.
This is a story that we here at MickeyBlog will continue to follow closely. Readers are encouraged to keep checking back with us for further news and updates.
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Source; Fox35
