Federal judge says cruise ships must follow COVID rules

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Pandemic restrictions on Florida-based cruise ships will remain in place after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a previous ruling that sided with a Florida lawsuit challenging the regulations as burdensome.

The one-paragraph decision by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was filed at 11:50 p.m. Saturday, just minutes before a Tampa judge's previous ruling against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restrictions was set to take effect.

The judges' issuance of a temporary stay keeps the CDC regulations regarding Florida-based cruise ships in place while the CDC appeals the June decision by U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday.

The rules require either a 95% vaccination rate among passengers, or a test cruise to ensure adequate measure are in place to protect passengers and crew from COVID-19.

The large cruise ship operators coming to Alaska starting later this month are requiring vaccinations of all passengers, while one ship ran a test cruise to check out its protocols.

The lawsuit against the federal rules, championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, claims that the multiple-step process to allow cruising from Florida is overly burdensome, harming a multibillion-dollar industry that provides some 159,000 jobs and generates revenue for the state.

The CDC said keeping the rules in place would prevent future COVID-19 outbreaks on ships that are vulnerable to the spread of the virus because of their close quarters and frequent stops at foreign ports.

"The undisputed evidence shows that unregulated cruise ship operations would exacerbate the spread of COVID-19, and that the harm to the public that would result from such operations cannot be undone," the CDC said in a court filing.

The CDC first flatly halted cruise ships from sailing in March 2020. Then the CDC on Oct. 30 of last year imposed a four-phase conditional

framework it said would allow the industry to gradually resume operations if certain thresholds were met. Those included virus mitigation procedures and a simulated cruise to test them before embarking regular passengers.

Several cruise lines have begun preliminary cruises under those guidelines.