The US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has called for Carnival Corporation to hand over documents related to its response to COVID-19 outbreaks on its cruise ships that infected 1500+ and killed dozens.
The committee, which has jurisdiction over maritime transportation issues, has made the requests in letters sent to Arnold Donald (Carnival's CEO), the USCG and the CDC. The letters described cruise liners as “a fertile breeding ground for infectious diseases.” The letter reads that "it seems as though Carnival Corporation and its portfolio of nine cruise lines, which represents 109 cruise ships, is still trying to sell this cruise line fantasy and ignoring the public health threat.”
Carnival's shares were down over 11% on Friday, May 1. The company’s stock is down over 70% since January 1, 2020. The world's largest cruise shipowner has been at the center of a number of high-profile outbreaks on its ships. Diamond Princess was quarantined in Japan in one of the first epidemic outbreaks outside China.
The letter says Carnival’s fleet has had "an unusually high number of outbreaks" and adds that at least 9 Carnival-owned liners had reported COVID-19 outbreaks, with infected 1500+ and at least 39 deaths.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.