Assembly discusses potential small ship cruise season this summer

The Wrangell Borough Assembly, between their weekly COVID-19 update and a budget workshop last Thursday, met to discuss the possibility of small cruise ships visiting town this summer. Cruise season has been a topic of some concern amongst the community. Many ships have delayed or cancelled their planned stops in Wrangell in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A smaller cruise season means fewer tourists and will have a negative impact on Wrangell's economy. On the other hand, there are concerns that ships stopping in Wrangell pose a risk of bringing the virus to the island, something that has not happened as of Tuesday, May 26.

According to the most recent schedule from Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore, dated May 21, Wrangell has 53 cruise ship stops still scheduled. The original schedule estimated a total capacity of about 24,000 people onboard all the ships this summer. That number is now down to about 7,200. A "small" cruise ship, it was pointed out in the meeting, is defined as a ship carrying 250 passengers or less.

The first stop still scheduled is the American Constellation, part of American Cruise Lines. A set date is not determined yet, but American Cruise Lines is wanting to visit Wrangell sometime at the end of June. Several representatives of American Cruise Lines took part in the meeting with the assembly

"I would just give the guidance to the assembly that I would like this to remain, though we have American Cruise Lines on the line and they are the first company that have expressed interest, I'd like us to keep the discussion relatively general if at all possible," said Mayor Steve Prysunka.

Prysunka had a question of where, exactly, a sick person would go if they came off of a cruise ship and they were determined to have the virus. Would they go back onto the cruise ship, or were they now the local community's problem? Dr. Edward Dees, speaking on behalf of American Cruise Lines, answered that the Wrangell Medical Center would have to treat this hypothetical patient to the best of their ability to manage, or the person would have to be otherwise isolated. He is not sure if they could come back on board the ship, as a cruise ship is a "closed operation" between ports and could increase risks of the virus spreading to people on board.

Assembly Member Julie Decker wanted to know more about safety procedures American Cruise Lines has in place.

There are a number of plans in place or being formed, Dees said.

"The bottom line is making sure that one, once a case is identified that is symptomatic, that you have a specific area to isolate that person until they can be disembarked or, if in fact you can't manage their medical problem on board they're disembarked," he said. "Secondarily is to increase social distancing and put other people in quarantine until you can do a case contact study there on board, and provide that there's no more opportunities, so to speak, for asymptomatic transfer, or reduce that."

Holly Love, vice president of medical operations for Vikand Solutions, the medical manager for American Cruise Lines, added in another portion of the workshop that they are looking closely at CDC and other health guidelines. If there is a ship that comes into American waters with a fever of unknown origin, she said, that has to be reported to the CDC. A ship can get put into quarantine, depending on how health authorities want to handle the situation under CDC jurisdiction. However, she said American Cruise Lines and their smaller ships fall under Coast Guard jurisdiction, so those rules might vary. Regardless, she said that if they had a person under investigation for COVID-19 and there is no testing available, contact tracing will need to take place quickly and people will have to be quarantined until the situation is worked out.

"A lot would depend on the local health authorities in that situation," she said.

During the workshop, Prysunka said he was worried that cruise lines were not properly understanding Wrangell's limitations when it came to handling an outbreak of COVID-19. The Wrangell Medical Center has five acute care beds, three ER beds, and "a few swing beds in Long Term Care," he said. There are three doctors, no respiratory technician, and only three ventilators. Wrangell's capacity for handling an outbreak of the virus is limited, he said, and is likely below the expectations that cruise ships might have when they pull into town. If Wrangell is going to entertain cruise ships this summer, Prysunka said, all parties need to proceed cautiously.

"What we can suggest as a possible middle road here is if we have a case where somebody is definitely ill, they have to be disembarked," Dees said. "But if we have somebody who has mild symptoms, one way of getting around it might be to have the sampling done on board and have the specimen sent to the hospital to have it tested. If it's something that can be managed on board ... and it's a mild case they may not have to be disembarked at the local facility."

"We're committed to certainly partnering with the community and only returning when it is, in fact, safe," said Mike Olivo, with American Cruise Lines. "We have been developing our own protocols to manage our experience on the ship, and I understand that in Southeast Alaska the communities are working together to put together a list of protocols. We plan to look at those protocols and ensure that ours are in line with yours."

Attached to the agenda packet for the workshop was a memo from the Alaska Municipal League, outlining some potential shared protocols amongst Southeast Alaskan communities. Some of them include regular testing of crew and passengers on board the ships, face coverings for employees and passengers, setting guidelines in place for disembarking crew, determining quarantine procedures, and agreeing to commit resources to contact tracing if the virus does spread on a ship.

The assembly also heard from some members of the public during this workshop. Borough Clerk Kim Lane read a letter sent to the city from Jim Leslie, president of the Stikine River Jet Boat Association. The association represents five different charter boat companies, the letter read, that rely on cruise ship tourism for a significant portion of their business. They have been "effectively wiped out" for the 2020 tour season by the pandemic. They are ready to get back to work as soon as possible, but they understand that keeping the public safe is the most important.

"Point One: Our highest priority is the health and wellbeing of our community," Lane read. "Point two: We are ready and willing to work, if and when the time comes. Point three: We respect the decisions made by the state and community leadership in regard to whether or not ships should tie up in Wrangell in 2020, and will plan our business activities according to their guidelines."

As this was only a workshop, no formal action was taken at the time.