Texas Governor Abbott signed a law in March banning businesses from requiring masks. Thankfully that has been challenged by several school districts and the latest court ruling sides with the schools instituting the mandates. Last week Abbott, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID and yet that has not changed his stance. That’s all background for this story about an outbreak on a cruise ship. On an eight day Carnival cruise sailing out of Galveston, 27 people tested positive for coronavirus. A 77 year-old woman, identified as Marilyn Tackett of Oklahoma, has since died. It is unclear if she was vaccinated, although the GoFundMe set up by her family does not mention it. Below are a few more details via CNBC:
The Carnival Vista cruise ship sailing out of Galveston, Texas, reported 27 people testing positive over two weeks in late July and early August, the highest number of cases since cruises started sailing again.
NBC News was working to confirm the identity of the woman, who died on Aug. 14. The New York Times reported she was a great-grandmother from Oklahoma.
The woman departed on the Carnival Vista with her family on July 31 and tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing respiratory complications, the Times reported. She was admitted to a hospital in Belize and put on a ventilator before being evacuated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and receiving treatment.
The outbreak of 27 cases aboard the ship was discovered on the fourth day of an eight-day cruise, shortly before the ship docked in Belize. Twenty-six of those who tested positive were crew members and the other was a passenger.
“We are very sorry to hear about the death of a guest who sailed on Carnival Vista,” Carnival said in a statement. “Regrettably, there is a fair amount of disinformation about the circumstances of this matter.
“The guest almost certainly did not contract COVID on our ship, and she was assisted with expert medical care on board and was ultimately evacuated from Belize after we provided a resource to her family. We have continued to provide support to her family and are not going to add to their sadness by commenting further.”
This story is just so sad and infuriating. It could have been completely avoided as it is more than likely that Marilyn wasn’t vaccinated. This story to is like a warning for the cruise industry. Having 27 people test positive on an eight day cruise could definitely lead to the situation we had at the beginning of the pandemic where cruise ships were marooned at sea. I blame most of these unnecessary deaths on the Republican party and media sowing doubt and misinformation. This grandmother could possibly have several more years spending time with her family. I hope that these cruise lines continue to fight Texas on their vaccination passport ban. Passengers need to be vaccinated to protect themselves, the other guests and their crew members. An outbreak on a cruise just sounds like a nightmare.
who is going on a cruise during a pandemic? that’s a recipe for disaster
Exactly. Some people just won’t use their common sense.
Lol at the hashtag #ChooseFun, more like #ChooseDeath
Exactly. My god, some of these industries sound pathological. “‘Choo$e FUN!!!’ Stop looking over there at reality, choose FuN, dammit!”
Anyone that goes on a cruise is an idiot.
Only 32% of Oklahomans are fully vaccinated, so statistically speaking, the greater chance is that she wasn’t.
So stupid, so stubborn, so unnecessary.
Nope
Taking a cruise in a pandemic at 77 years old is not smart, yes it’s sad but that was an idiotic move. Her family should’ve known better, and since she went downhill that fast and had to be hospitalized in Belize just a few days in she probably didn’t catch it on the boat, there’s no way to know though.
I read about this. It was her first time ever leaving the country and she was super excited. She first had to be hospitalized in Belize for days before she could be stabilized and sent to Tulsa, so this utilized another country’s strapped resources too. It’s just all such a mess.
She might have not caught it there, but if there is not mandatory testing before boarding, surely someone she came in contact with, probably will.
She was the only passenger who tested positive. The rest were crew. I think she had it prior to boarding. We have a cruise scheduled for June and we have to test negative 3 days prior to boarding and we have to be vaccinated. Not just for the cruise but for the airline because we have a layover in Canada. We’re all vaccinated but I also have it booked for 2023 in case things are still looking bad prior to us needing to pay the balance.
Cruise ships are disgusting anyways and do nothing but dump toxins into the ocean and drive global warming. They should be illegal to begin with. We aren’t entitled to live like royalty at the expense of our environment, or at the expense of the health of our community.
I am conflicted. I feel bad that someone has died of COVID, but I am equally enraged that you could be so indoctrinated to refuse a life saving vaccine?! Im fully vaccinated & wearing a mask so I don’t accidentally give one of these donkeys (and all the kids) Covid….
And truly this is turning into a Republican / ultra granola anti vax left wing nutter annihilator …. So weird to watch politicians actively support behaviours that Kill off their voters?!
She was actually fully vaccinated. Many articles if you just google her name make a point of it.
Stupid move to go, but honestly I must admit that my own grandparents are eager to go on cruises and trips in the near future (I’ve repeatedly asked them not to). I think the mindset is that since they’re fully vaccinated they’ll be okay, despite still being at a high risk. As important and generally effective as the COVID vaccines are, I think there needs to be a push to increase public understanding that the danger of catching COVID is still very real even among the vaccinated.
I watch some Disney youtubers. Recently they went on a RC cruise, a Carnival cruise, and a Disney cruise. Each of their videos showcased how covid precautions were being handled. Carnival by far was the least stringent. In fact no masks were required anywhere for the first few sailings and that includes the time this woman was on one of their ships. So yeah, I don’t but Carnival’s claim at all. It is possible it was contracted there. Carnival is known as the party cruise line and those videos proved it to be true.
It’s sad but choosing to go on a cruise during a pandemic not vaccinated in extremely poor judgment, especially from an olde me person. We can’t save these people form themselves. I have little sympathy at this point. These people are clogging up our medical system and refuse to get vaccinated yet as soon as they’re sick they check themselves in the hospital and take every medication thrown their way and suddenly aren’t worried about what’s in the medication. Personally I think hospitals and doctors and nurses have the right to not accept non-vaccinated patients at this point. It’s your choice to not get vaccinated, and it’s their choice not to treat you.
There are mixed media reports on whether the passenger who died was vaccinated. But to be clear: fully vaccinated people can and do die of COVID. It happens significantly less often than deaths in unvaccinated persons but it does happen. Advanced age and certain medical risk factors can play a role. When transmission is astronomically high as it currently is in most parts of the U.S., the number of deaths in the fully vaccinated rises as well. Just like one wouldn’t walk straight into a raging forest fire thinking a firefighters coat is enough protection, people should realize in a raging pandemic vaccines though amazing aren’t magical on their own, especially if high risk due to age or health status.
the question is when did she become symptomatic. if a bunch of people tested negative at boarding but positive 4 days in, their exposure was prior to boarding and those becoming symptomatic after that were ones probably exposed during the cruise. for the life of me, I don’t understand why anyone would go on a cruise during this pandemic
I’ve only gone on two cruises but both were Carnival and each time I had a fantastic vacation and the ship took such good care of us (one of my cruises was during an actual hurricane and I never felt unsafe.) My family has wonderful memories of these times but honestly, I won’t go on another one for at least a decade or two, and I place all the blame on Republican leaders (Trump, Abbott, DeSantis, et al) who actively spread misinformation and distrust thereby extending this pandemic and putting entire industries at risk. F#ck them all.
Wait a minute. How can Carnival say she didn’t catch COVID during their cruise when 26 crew members tested positive? Were the crew members properly tested before boarding the ship?