Will They Announce Covid Cases Onboard?

[chengkp75]

2 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

However,  I doubt if CDC regs require that the cabin and by implication the name of the person(s) w covid have to be identified.  Another post on this thread suggested that the cabin number of the covid victim should be announced to everyone on the ship.

 

DON

Absolutely correct.  Only the fact that a threshold number has been met will be announced.  They would never announce a specific cabin.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

However,  I doubt if CDC regs require that the cabin and by implication the name of the person(s) w covid have to be identified.  Another post on this thread suggested that the cabin number of the covid victim should be announced to everyone on the ship.

 

DON

Revealing who has Covid would actually be a HIPAA violation.

[B Midged]

On 6/2/2021 at 11:53 AM, cruisemom42 said:

What if you were among the subset of parents traveling with unvaccinated children (either as the "5%" on vaccinated cruises or just in general on non-vax cruises)?

 

If your children weren't vaccinated, wouldn't you want to know if there were COVID cases onboard ship, perhaps to find out if your child was exposed or to redouble your efforts to ensure that they were careful (wearing their masks, maintaining social distancing, etc.)

 

I guess they will find out in the way to the hospital. 

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Revealing who has Covid would actually be a HIPAA violation.

 

Does HIPAA apply to cruise ships outside of America? 

[navybankerteacher]

1 minute ago, ldubs said:

 

Does HIPAA apply to cruise ships outside of America? 

A valid question - I would think not — especially if a ship were in someone else’s territorial waters at the time.

[ldubs]

6 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

A valid question - I would think not — especially if a ship were in someone else’s territorial waters at the time.

 

Some years ago hundreds of prescription faxes were mistakenly coming to my home number, rendering it useless.    I managed to track one of the incoming numbers from my phone record back to a doctor's office.  They advised that the Walmart pharmacy had given out my number for prescription faxes.   An obvious mistake.  I contacted Walmart but the problem persisted.   I made a HIPAA violation complaint and was advised this wasn't a HIPAA violation.   But after that the problem was quickly corrected.  

[donaldsc]

57 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

A valid question - I would think not — especially if a ship were in someone else’s territorial waters at the time.

 

Another hypothetical thought.  If they did  identify the cabin number but not the identity of the person in the cabin, would it be a HIPPA violation?  

 

DON

[lenquixote66]

28 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

Another hypothetical thought.  If they did  identify the cabin number but not the identity of the person in the cabin, would it be a HIPPA violation?  

 

DON

There is no such thing as HIPPA ,therefore it could never be a violation.

[ldubs]

4 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

There is no such thing as HIPPA ,therefore it could never be a violation.

 

HIPPA is a genus of decapod crustacean in the family Hippidae. 

 

Or, it could just be a typo!  Hahaha

 

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, ldubs said:

 

HIPPA is a genus of decapod crustacean in the family Hippidae. 

 

Or, it could just be a typo!  Hahaha

 

Initially I thought that perhaps it was a reference to a Hippo but as far as I know hippos do not take cruises.

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

Initially I thought that perhaps it was a reference to a Hippo but as far as I know hippos do not take cruises.

 

😄😄😄

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Does HIPAA apply to cruise ships outside of America? 

 

Unless the ship was US Flag, the short answer is no. However I suspect many countries have equivalent Laws.

 

For ships embarking/disembarking pax in US ports, I believe the cruise lines must report serious crimes to the FBI. In addition, I believe the CLIA (mega ship owners club) have an agreement that members will report to the FBI on cruises that don't visit US Waters.

 

With respect to the US CDC, only ships operating in US Waters must comply with their requirements. Not aware of any other US Laws that would apply on a Foreign-Flag ship, outside of US Waters. Even if embarking in a US Port, once you leave US Waters, you are subject to the Laws of the Flag State and those of the ports you visit.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

A valid question - I would think not — especially if a ship were in someone else’s territorial waters at the time.

How about when the ship is docked in a United States port? I don't know, just asking.

[Top_of_the_Cube]

From a layman's understanding of HIPAA, only businesses and individuals in health care related fields are covered under HIPAA regulations.  In most cases your family and friends, and strangers, and even your employer are not affected by HIPAA.  The cruise line could publish your medical records in its daily newsletter/schedule and not violate HIPAA.  Doesn't mean there aren't other privacy laws that might come into play.  And, doesn't prevent civil action if you can prove harm or injury from your personal information being shared without your permission.

 

More to the OP comment:  CDC does cover contract tracing in the current CSO.  You might read that and see if you agree with my interpretation and opinion.  If cases are confirmed on the ship, then those who have come into contact with that passenger for a sustained length of time will be notified.  I can't imagine there will be any need to share the identity of the infected individual or even the location on the ship where the contact took place.  I was going to see what the CDC guidelines were for those who were tagged, but I lost interest.

 

Of course, if the total number of cases hits the CDC threshold, all passengers and crew members must be alerted to that milestone.

 

In all of this, I do not see where any identifying information about the infected person is required, and I don't see how it would be beneficial or in the ship's interest to reveal such information.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

How about when the ship is docked in a United States port? I don't know, just asking.

 

The "Chief" is probably the best resource to answer this question. @chengkp75

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The "Chief" is probably the best resource to answer this question. @chengkp75

I can't disagree with that even though he is an engineer, not a lawyer. He does seem to know a lot of maritime law though. I guess years of experience will do that.

[Heidi13]

That's one of the benefits of working at sea, as we receive extensive training in Marine Law, especially for the Master's Certificate of Competency. In addition to the formal training, we also gain experience in day to day operations.

[navybankerteacher]

8 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Initially I thought that perhaps it was a reference to a Hippo but as far as I know hippos do not take cruises.

I guess you have not observed the "substantial"  individuals regularly bellying up to the buffet line on your cruises.  Or are you one of the politically correct folk who abstain from arguably insensitive terminology --  perhaps preferring to use "full figured" rather than more graphic terminology?

[lenquixote66]

14 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I guess you have not observed the "substantial"  individuals regularly bellying up to the buffet line on your cruises.  Or are you one of the politically correct folk who abstain from arguably insensitive terminology --  perhaps preferring to use "full figured" rather than more graphic terminology?

I am proud to say that at age.. I way the same as I did at age 19.I am 6’5 and weigh 185.

I only concern myself with my appearance.

[chengkp75]

15 hours ago, Top_of_the_Cube said:

The cruise line could publish your medical records in its daily newsletter/schedule and not violate HIPAA

 

15 hours ago, ontheweb said:

How about when the ship is docked in a United States port? I don't know, just asking.

Yes, the cruise line could publish your medical records, but they got them from the ship's doctor, who may covered by HIPAA.  But, again, there is some gray area when considering the applicability of HIPAA on foreign ships at all, and that is the legal concept of "overlapping jurisdiction" (whether flag state law or port state law applies).  I haven't delved that deeply into the HIPAA to know if a foreign licensed doctor working on a foreign ship, even if in US waters, would be a covered entity for HIPAA.  I'm thinking that as this is an "internal policy or procedure" of the ship, that based on other SCOTUS rulings, that unless there is a specific reference to foreign ships/doctors in HIPAA, then it would not apply to foreign cruise ships.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

 

Yes, the cruise line could publish your medical records, but they got them from the ship's doctor, who may covered by HIPAA.  But, again, there is some gray area when considering the applicability of HIPAA on foreign ships at all, and that is the legal concept of "overlapping jurisdiction" (whether flag state law or port state law applies).  I haven't delved that deeply into the HIPAA to know if a foreign licensed doctor working on a foreign ship, even if in US waters, would be a covered entity for HIPAA.  I'm thinking that as this is an "internal policy or procedure" of the ship, that based on other SCOTUS rulings, that unless there is a specific reference to foreign ships/doctors in HIPAA, then it would not apply to foreign cruise ships.

Still, even if it is not a HIPAA violation, it would seem to me that publishing the medical records of passengers would be a very unwise thing to do. It could only piss off passengers, and in a competitive marketplace be a disincentive for anyone to book on that particular cruise line.

 

Does anyone actually have an example of this ever happening?

[middlehaitch]

Re the title of the thread, 

Celebrity Millennium has just had 2 passengers test positive. 

The crew and passengers were advised of the positive cases.

The 2 positive cases, sharing the same cabin, are now quarantined in their cabin.

Check the Celebrity forum for ongoing info.

 

cheers, h

 

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, middlehaitch said:

Re the title of the thread, 

Celebrity Millennium has just had 2 passengers test positive. 

The crew and passengers were advised of the positive cases.

The 2 positive cases, sharing the same cabin, are now quarantined in their cabin.

Check the Celebrity forum for ongoing info.

 

cheers, h

 

 

Interesting -- and on Celebrity's first Caribbean re-start cruise too. 

 

Given the two are from same cabin a false test result seems unlikely...  One is left wondering whether they are really vaccinated?

 

Edited to add:  Just found this story about it:   https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/06/10/passengers-positive-covid-after-sailing-100-vaccinated-cruise/7645511002/

 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by cruisemom42

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Interesting -- and on Celebrity's first Caribbean re-start cruise too. 

 

Given the two are from same cabin a false test result seems unlikely...  One is left wondering whether they are really vaccinated?

 

Edited to add:  Just found this story about it:   https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/06/10/passengers-positive-covid-after-sailing-100-vaccinated-cruise/7645511002/

 

 

 

Does the word "fake vaccination card" apply?

 

DON

[Donald]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Interesting -- and on Celebrity's first Caribbean re-start cruise too. 

 

Given the two are from same cabin a false test result seems unlikely...  One is left wondering whether they are really vaccinated?

 

Edited to add:  Just found this story about it:   https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/06/10/passengers-positive-covid-after-sailing-100-vaccinated-cruise/7645511002/

 

 

Is anyone really surprised by this?

We are going to see many stories like this one on ships sailing from US Ports.