Victoria’s cruise season continues to ramp up this week with 15 cruise ships scheduled to visit the city between May 11th and May 17th, bringing an estimated 43,931 passengers through the capital region.
The busy week comes as public health officials continue monitoring the hantavirus outbreak connected to an Antarctic expedition cruise ship overseas, though officials say there should not be concerns tied to vessels visiting Victoria.
During a press conference Monday, Dr. Bonnie Henry said four Canadians connected to the outbreak arrived in Victoria on Sunday and are isolating while being monitored.
See also: Four Canadians return to BC from hantavirus-stricken cruise ship
The World Health Organization has said the risk of wider spread remains low and there should not be concerns about cruise ships visiting ports such as Victoria.
Henry also emphasized the virus behaves very differently from COVID-19 and is not considered to have pandemic potential.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s cruise season is already off to a busy start. Since the first ship arrivals in April, 31 cruise ship visits have already brought an estimated 83,192 passengers to the city.
This week also includes the first-ever visit from MSC Cruises, with MSC Poesia scheduled to arrive Sunday evening. The ship carries just over 3,000 passengers and marks the cruise line’s debut in Victoria. MSC Poesia is expected to make 20 visits to the city this season.
Here’s a list of ships visiting Victoria this week:
Monday, May 11th
- Carnival Spirit — 2,124 passengers
Tuesday, May 12th
- Island Princess — 1,974 passengers
Wednesday, May 13th
- Asuka II — 960 passengers
- Queen Elizabeth — 2,081 passengers
- Carnival Miracle — 2,124 passengers
Thursday, May 14th
- Voyager of the Seas — 4,000 passengers
Friday, May 15th
- Grand Princess — 2,606 passengers
- Eurodam — 2,104 passengers
- Norwegian Bliss — 4,250 passengers
- Royal Princess — 3,560 passengers
Saturday, May 16th
- Star Princess — 4,300 passengers
- Noordam — 1,918 passengers
- Norwegian Encore — 3,998 passengers
Sunday, May 17th
- Anthem of the Seas — 4,919 passengers
- MSC Poesia — 3,013 passengers
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Hantavirus is an uncommon but virulent and global pathogen which is found in Canada primarily in the prairies and BC. The Andes virus which caused the cruise boat infections is different from the local virus in that it can be transmitted between people without contact with the host or its droppings. Based on past experience the Andes virus has a low rate of transmission and it is not considered likely to cause large outbreaks. That said, in 2018-19 it resulted in 34 cases and 11 deaths in South America. It is noteworthy that there is no immunization or specific antiviral treatment for the virus and medical care for severe disease involves ICU support.
The rate of emergence of novel infectious diseases is increasing due to climate change, social inequality, high rates of global travel, antimicrobial resistance, urbanization, and weak international global public Health infrastructure and we would be wise to recognize the global consequences of population and economic growth before celebrating increasing cruise ship dockings.
