Covid 19 lawsuits
LONG ISLAND, New York — A Long Island couple filed a lawsuit against Celebrity Cruises for taking an unreasonable risk of spreading COVID-19 by allowing the passengers to be crammed into small spaces together while aboard the Celebrity Cruise Ship dubbed “Eclipse.” The proposed class action lawsuit claims that Celebrity endangered thousands of passengers to the novel coronavirus after someone aboard the vessel fell ill and showed symptoms of the disease. The plaintiffs say that even though one of their fellow passengers had symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the cruise line took no steps to mitigate the spread of the virus. Instead, buffet lines were crammed, and entertainment options continued as planned, according to ABC News.
The leading plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit acquired COVID-19 while on the cruise and required hospitalization shortly after disembarking from the vessel. The suit claims that he fell ill shortly after boarding the cruise ship in South America. While the ship was at sea, the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, announced a “no sail” order because the CDC’s experts believed that the novel coronavirus could spread easily on a cruise ship like the Eclipse.
Despite the no sail order issued by the CDC and the rising number of people who started to experience symptoms associated with COVID-19, the cruise ship arrived at each of the planned ports of call. However, the Chilean port authority denied entry into the port. As a result, the ship headed to San Diego. The ship returned to Santiago, Chile, but was not allowed to enter. The cruise ship finally received permission to discharge passengers from the vessel.
Even though many people got sick, cruise officials encouraged the consumption of alcohol at open bars, buffets, and free internet service. The crew even threw a party to honor the healthcare workers toiling on the front lines during the first months of the novel coronavirus pandemic. No one knew about the severity of the problem until a day or two after the cruise when Celebrity sent an email to passengers alerting them to the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Eclipse.
