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Review
. 2022 Jan;27(1):2002113.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.1.2002113.

A review of COVID-19 transmission dynamics and clinical outcomes on cruise ships worldwide, January to October 2020

Kathryn S Willebrand  1   2 , Lauren Pischel  1   2   3 , Amyn A Malik  1   3 , Samuel M Jenness  4 , Saad B Omer  1   2   3   5
Affiliations
Review

A review of COVID-19 transmission dynamics and clinical outcomes on cruise ships worldwide, January to October 2020

Kathryn S Willebrand et al. Euro Surveill. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

BackgroundCruise ships provide an ideal setting for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, given the socially dense exposure environment.AimTo provide a comprehensive review of COVID-19 outbreaks on cruise ships.MethodsPubMed was searched for COVID-19 cases associated with cruise ships between January and October 2020. A list of cruise ships with COVID-19 was cross-referenced with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of cruise ships associated with a COVID-19 case within 14 days of disembarkation. News articles were also searched for epidemiological information. Narratives of COVID-19 outbreaks on ships with over 100 cases are presented.ResultsSeventy-nine ships and 104 unique voyages were associated with COVID-19 cases before 1 October 2020. Nineteen ships had more than one voyage with a case of COVID-19. The median number of cases per ship was three (interquartile range (IQR): 1-17.8), with two notable outliers: the Diamond Princess and the Ruby Princess, which had 712 and 907 cases, respectively. The median attack rate for COVID-19 was 0.2% (IQR: 0.03-1.5), although this distribution was right-skewed with a mean attack rate of 3.7%; 25.9% (27/104) of voyages had at least one COVID-19-associated death. Outbreaks involving only crew occurred later than outbreaks involving guests and crew.ConclusionsIn the absence of mitigation measures, COVID-19 can spread easily on cruise ships in a susceptible population because of the confined space and high-density contact networks. This environment can create superspreader events and facilitate international spread.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cruise ship; cruise ship outbreak; epidemiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flowchart for search strategy and literature review of COVID-19 cases on cruise ships worldwide, November 2019–October 2020
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of COVID-19 cases in guests (n = 1,658) and crew members (n  = 1,792) on cruise ships over time, worldwide, 1 February–1 August 2020
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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