Norovirus raises its ugly head again!

Norovirus is something we seem to hear quite a lot these days in the cruising world and an outbreak has been confirmed this week on Fred Olsen Balmoral. The ship which left Southampton on 16th April is currently on a 35 night Old England to New England sailing. The ship which carries 921 passengers had environmental health officers board the ship on 30th April in Baltimore to carry out health assessments on passengers and crew. It is reported that 163 passengers were affected and 6 crew members. It is believed that the virus was brought on-board the ship which then spread to other passengers as the captain instigated the usual measures taken in these circumstance’s 6 days into the cruise.

In a current statement from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, the line said that there are currently “just six guests in isolation, out of a total of 1,434 guests and crew onboard, and the incidences of gastric illness have reduced substantially.

“Fred. Olsen has been undertaking extensive sanitisation measures and cleaning of the ship, following the company’s strict illness containment and prevention plan. It is believed that the highly-contagious gastric illness was brought onto the ship, and is spread by person-to-person or surface-to-surface contact.”

I have recently returned from a 3 night cruise on Ovation of the Seas and they have a good system when entering the  Windjammer Buffet Restaurant where  you have to wash your hands on the way in. There is a filter lane which is manned by staff which directs you to sinks for you to be able to wash your hands before entering the dining area. This is much better than the hand gel machine that dispense the sanitising Gel because there isn’t really any point if your hands are not clean in the first instance.

I think a lot of this could be prevented if people just adhered to a few simple rules. Its not too hard to wash your hands when you come out of the toilet and then use a paper towel to open the door. I have on more than one occasion seen people come out of the toilet and not even bother to wash their hands and I’m sure they would be the first to moan if they were ill and confined to their cabin. I have also witnessed people sneezing into napkins and then wiping their hands with the same napkin  and then probably not go and wash their hands afterwards either. With just a little thought and consideration for others this could help cut down on this horrible bug and let everyone enjoy their cruise. What do you think?