Congress to Investigate Cruise Line’s Virus Response

Carnival Corp. has reported some 1,500 positive cases of the coronavirus on nine of its ships, resulting in at least 39 deaths of passengers and crew members over the last two months.

Now Congress wants to know why.

The House Transportation Committee says it will investigate Carnival’s response to the outbreak and why so many cases appeared on its ships earlier this year, according to The Hill.

“We would hope that the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic will place a renewed emphasis on public health and passenger safety, but frankly that has not been seen up to this point,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who chairs the transportation committee, wrote in a letter addressed to Carnival CEO Arnold Donald.

DeFazio also wrote to the U.S. Coast Guard and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking them to disclose related information.

“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,” DeFazio added.

Carnival has been heavily criticized for allegedly continuing to run itineraries all over the world even though its executives knew the potential problems the virus could cause, according to a report by Bloomberg News Service.

“They suggest that officials at Carnival were aware of the threats to some of its ships and did not take appropriate actions, which may have led to greater infections and the spread of the disease,” DeFazio wrote in his letter, referring to the Bloomberg story.