Covid on Iona

[Megabear2]

I was thinking more about arrivals to UK.  Negative test on boarding the ship gives 7 days for any unknown carrier to develop the disease and clearly as we've seen from the P&O/Fred/Marella cases it can happen. I assume passengers will not be tested onboard as UK require day 2 tests on arrival, but nothing to say some poor soul may get ill or worse case scenario the day 2 test for Government shows they've been wandering around QM2 unknowingly infected.

 

I'm not sure we have Heathrow hotels either.  Possibly.

[Megabear2]

Answered my own question! No red list countries so no hotels available on UK supplier as from 1.11.2021.

[daiB]

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

What extra precautions are realistically possible,  over and above those in force already ?

It is relatively easy to take extra measures when NV breaks out, less so with Covid. 

Come on you know what they are, no salt and pepper on table, only in packets, the same with butter. Toilet doors open all to stop transmission by touch. Extra vigilance re masks and reducing crowded areas Testing possible contacts.

 

All the above very possible..

[terrierjohn]

18 minutes ago, daiB said:

Come on you know what they are, no salt and pepper on table, only in packets, the same with butter. Toilet doors open all to stop transmission by touch. Extra vigilance re masks and reducing crowded areas Testing possible contacts.

 

All the above very possible..

If the current covid protocols are not sufficient to prevent transmission, then surely the extra measures you suggest should already be in place.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

Come on you know what they are, no salt and pepper on table, only in packets, the same with butter. Toilet doors open all to stop transmission by touch. Extra vigilance re masks and reducing crowded areas Testing possible contacts.

Surface transmission of Covid is infinitessimal,  so removal of salt and pepper etc is irrelevant. 

Mask wearing was well enforced on my last cruise,  with the exception of dancing, so the only extra realistic precaution that can be taken is to ban dancing. 

[daiB]

5 hours ago, wowzz said:

Surface transmission of Covid is infinitessimal,  so removal of salt and pepper etc is irrelevant. 

Mask wearing was well enforced on my last cruise,  with the exception of dancing, so the only extra realistic precaution that can be taken is to ban dancing. 

Your sure about that???

[daiB]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

If the current covid protocols are not sufficient to prevent transmission, then surely the extra measures you suggest should already be in place.

But they have been sufficient which is why no other measures were taken.

it is still not clear that anyone had Covid on the ship.

[terrierjohn]

6 minutes ago, daiB said:

But they have been sufficient which is why no other measures were taken.

it is still not clear that anyone had Covid on the ship.

Dai, stop burying your head in the sand, Moley has already said he believes the number off loaded in Grand Canaria was 12,  and everything points to it having been covid. 

Even if true it's hardly the end of the world for P&O, their number of incidents is well below most other cruise lines.

[wowzz]

46 minutes ago, daiB said:

Your sure about that???

Yup !

[daiB]

4 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Dai, stop burying your head in the sand, Moley has already said he believes the number off loaded in Grand Canaria was 12,  and everything points to it having been covid. 

Even if true it's hardly the end of the world for P&O, their number of incidents is well below most other cruise lines.

We were told 2, a lady on our group saw 2 people get off and taken off in an ambulance. Not 12.

[daiB]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Yup !

OK then why are we washing hands and applying gel 20 times a day on the ship. According to you this is a waste of time, if transmission is not by contact with surfaces.?????

[wowzz]

15 minutes ago, daiB said:

OK then why are we washing hands and applying gel 20 times a day on the ship. According to you this is a waste of time, if transmission is not by contact with surfaces.?????

I'll post this one link,  but there are many more if you care to look

https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/04/07/surface-transmission

At the beginning of the pandemic no one clearly knew how the virus was being transmitted. Hence all the handwashing,  sanitising etc.

Now however, it is clearly understood that airborne transferrence is the prime cause of transmission.

So, by all means continue to wash your hands - it's hygienic,  but in terms of reducing your chances of contracting covid, it makes no difference whatsoever.  

 

[clevercruiser]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

So, by all means continue to wash your hands - it's hygienic,  but in terms of reducing your chances of contracting covid, it makes no difference whatsoever.  

 

Agreed.

 

Back in April 2020, I was one of 'those people' wearing disposable gloves when I visited the

supermarket, but once it was established that fomite (surface) transmission was not a vector

or Covid, I immediately stopped doing that (but I kept up with extra hand washing, as that's a

good habit to have anyway!)

 

By far the best way to reduce transmission is to avoid crowded/noisy indoor venues,

irrespective of whether you are wearing a mask or not, but that's obviously not always

possible on a cruise ship, unfortunately... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lujaha]

8 hours ago, daiB said:

We were told 2, a lady on our group saw 2 people get off and taken off in an ambulance. Not 12.

So in the Captains Log it says "several" people due to Covid restrictions.  I would say 2 is not several.  Why would they say that if there were only 2?  Why say Covid if it was a medical emergency?

[Megabear2]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

We were told 2, a lady on our group saw 2 people get off and taken off in an ambulance. Not 12.

It would surely be unusual for two people to be taken seriously ill together for the ship to have to turn round and seek better medical care unless it was Covid?  In many years of cruising I've been diverted only once for a heart attack occurring at sea near India but have seen lots of medical emergencies where individual people are taken off at the next port or helicopter lifted but never more than one into the ambulance that was waiting. Those people were pretty sick by the point they went off, certainly not walking wounded.

 

According to the Captain's log the people were removed at midnight, perhaps the lady having been told 2 people saw that number go off and assumed that was it.  The other 10 may not have needed ambulances and perhaps transferred on foot to hotel quarantine.

 

I note you believed these 2 people had flown home, so assumedly someone told you this or was it officially announced?  Lujaha hasn't speculated on how many were involved in the "incident" but P&O and one of their employees have confirmed there were passengers onboard Ventura with Covid.

 

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, P&O are trying to calm things down over this type of incident. It is not inconceivable that the Captain did not want to cause worry and stress to his passengers so chose to use the privacy way out as an explanation.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Megabear2
Missed words

[lujaha]

15 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

It would surely be unusual for two people to be taken seriously ill together for the ship to have to turn round and seek better medical care unless it was Covid?  In many years of cruising I've been diverted only once for a heart attack occurring at sea near India but have seen lots of medical emergencies where individual people are taken off at the next port or helicopter lifted but never more than one into the ambulance that was waiting. Those people were pretty sick by the point they went off, certainly not walking wounded.

 

According to the Captain's log the people were removed at midnight, perhaps the lady having been told 2 people saw that number go off and assumed that was it.  The other 10 may not have needed ambulances and perhaps transferred on foot to hotel quarantine.

 

I note you believed these 2 people had flown home, so assumedly someone told you this or was it officially announced?  Lujaha hasn't speculated on how many were involved in the "incident" but P&O and one of their employees have confirmed there were passengers onboard Ventura with Covid.

 

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, P&O are trying to calm things down over this type of incident. It is not inconceivable that the Captain did not want to cause worry and stress to his passengers so chose to use the privacy way out as an explanation.

 

16 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

It would surely be unusual for two people to be taken seriously ill together for the ship to have to turn round and seek better medical care unless it was Covid?  In many years of cruising I've been diverted only once for a heart attack occurring at sea near India but have seen lots of medical emergencies where individual people are taken off at the next port or helicopter lifted but never more than one into the ambulance that was waiting. Those people were pretty sick by the point they went off, certainly not walking wounded.

 

According to the Captain's log the people were removed at midnight, perhaps the lady having been told 2 people saw that number go off and assumed that was it.  The other 10 may not have needed ambulances and perhaps transferred on foot to hotel quarantine.

 

I note you believed these 2 people had flown home, so assumedly someone told you this or was it officially announced?  Lujaha hasn't speculated on how many were involved in the "incident" but P&O and one of their employees have confirmed there were passengers onboard Ventura with Covid.

 

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, P&O are trying to calm things down over this type of incident. It is not inconceivable that the Captain did not want to cause worry and stress to his passengers so chose to use the privacy way out as an explanation.

 

[lujaha]

As usual Megabear, you have hit the nail on the head.  My quotes are not speculation, only what I have read of the Captains Log.  We kept ourselves to ourselves on the cruise, and didn't hear much in the way of gossip.  Thanks for being the voice of reason.  Still looking forward to hearing the result from P&O regarding who pays for quaranteen etc.

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

 

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, P&O are trying to calm things down over this type of incident. It is not inconceivable that the Captain did not want to cause worry and stress to his passengers so chose to use the privacy way out as an explanation.

To be honest, it worries me more that they appear to be less than candid about incidences of Covid on the ship.

 

in pre Covid times, we didn’t expect to be told what illnesses people had if they had to be taken off the ship. But we are in a different world now, and still in a global pandemic, so I think passengers should be kept fully informed about what is happening.

 

It’s bad enough ashore with people pretending that the pandemic is over and not bothering with simple mitigations like wearing their masks and keeping their distance. 
 

If the subject of Covid is avoided onboard, the same sort of behaviour will gradually creep in as people become complacent. Which could have far reaching effects, as ships remain the type of closed community that viruses love.

[Megabear2]

When I say they are trying to calm things down I am referring to social media etc.  There have been two Covid outbreaks on P&O ships, they have admitted this to those on board as far as I am aware.  If 12 people out of 2,000 are poorly it's a tiny ratio.  You cannot remove the risk of Covid at this time, it is a personal decision to sail in this environment.  Once we are past those locked in because they had paid before the situation occurred, people can make informed choices if cruising is for them in these Covid times.

 

The incidents on other lines I cannot comment on. 

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

When I say they are trying to calm things down I am referring to social media etc.  There have been two Covid outbreaks on P&O ships, they have admitted this to those on board as far as I am aware.  If 12 people out of 2,000 are poorly it's a tiny ratio.  You cannot remove the risk of Covid at this time, it is a personal decision to sail in this environment.  Once we are past those locked in because they had paid before the situation occurred, people can make informed choices if cruising is for them in these Covid times.

 

The incidents on other lines I cannot comment on. 

Absolutely - if you are prepared to go on a cruise, you must be aware that there is a very slim possibility that there may be a case of Covid aboard.

I don't see why you would need to be informed of this - if you were being cautious previously, there is no more that you can do, other than lock yourself up in your cabin.

[zap99]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Absolutely - if you are prepared to go on a cruise, you must be aware that there is a very slim possibility that there may be a case of Covid aboard.

I don't see why you would need to be informed of this - if you were being cautious previously, there is no more that you can do, other than lock yourself up in your cabin.

I can't recall any public announcement of folk having NV, or flu ,or a cold. On RCI a cabin where the occupants had NV was marked by a discrete, very small coloured sticker on the door. If the folk in the next cabin have Covid, I don't really want to know, but would prefer if they were moved somewhere else.

[daiB]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

It would surely be unusual for two people to be taken seriously ill together for the ship to have to turn round and seek better medical care unless it was Covid?  In many years of cruising I've been diverted only once for a heart attack occurring at sea near India but have seen lots of medical emergencies where individual people are taken off at the next port or helicopter lifted but never more than one into the ambulance that was waiting. Those people were pretty sick by the point they went off, certainly not walking wounded.

 

According to the Captain's log the people were removed at midnight, perhaps the lady having been told 2 people saw that number go off and assumed that was it.  The other 10 may not have needed ambulances and perhaps transferred on foot to hotel quarantine.

 

I note you believed these 2 people had flown home, so assumedly someone told you this or was it officially announced?  Lujaha hasn't speculated on how many were involved in the "incident" but P&O and one of their employees have confirmed there were passengers onboard Ventura with Covid.

 

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, P&O are trying to calm things down over this type of incident. It is not inconceivable that the Captain did not want to cause worry and stress to his passengers so chose to use the privacy way out as an explanation.

The two people going home was on a group i am not allowed to mention.

 

And perhaps the lady saw 2 people after all. And not the extra 10 sneaking off the ship. If it were more than 2 there would be rumours around the ship, there were none at all.

[zap99]

On 11/12/2021 at 10:42 AM, daiB said:

Come on you know what they are, no salt and pepper on table, only in packets, the same with butter. Toilet doors open all to stop transmission by touch. Extra vigilance re masks and reducing crowded areas Testing possible contacts.

 

All the above very possible..

Many restaurants now have condiments and butter on the table and keep the toilet doors closed.🤣

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, daiB said:

The two people going home was on a group i am not allowed to mention.

 

And perhaps the lady saw 2 people after all. And not the extra 10 sneaking off the ship. If it were more than 2 there would be rumours around the ship, there were none at 

I never suggested they sneaked off, merely that your lady might not gave seen them leave. Surely on holiday there are better things to be doing than spending hours watching the comings and goings ashore between midnight and 3.00am. 

 

Either way no point in stressing about it, the event is passed.

[Harry Peterson]

6 hours ago, zap99 said:

Many restaurants now have condiments and butter on the table and keep the toilet doors closed.🤣

I'll start getting seriously worried if we reach the point at which the butter and condiments are kept in the toilets to discourage people from touching them!